A stern warning has emerged from Puntland, signaling that the political friction between Somalia’s central government and regional states is escalating to a dangerous level. Puntland President Saeed Abdullahi Deni announced that the Puntland administration will withdraw its recognition of the federal government if a comprehensive political agreement is not reached before President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term expires next month.
Saeed Abdullahi Deni delivered these remarks on Monday while addressing troops at a military camp in the region. Citing the May 15 deadline, the President explicitly stated that if a mutual consensus is not achieved by then, the federal government will be considered non-existent. “From the middle of next month, if a solution acceptable to all Somalis is not found, we will regard the federal government as no longer in existence,” Deni warned.
The primary driver of the rising political temperature in Somalia is a controversial constitutional amendment approved by the Somali Parliament last March. This amendment extended the terms of both the President and the Parliament from four years to five years. The Speaker of the Parliament stated that the amendment would take immediate effect, effectively granting the current leadership an additional year in office.
However, opposition forces, including Puntland, have rejected this amendment outright. They argue that the country must be governed under the provisional constitution adopted in 2012, according to which President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term is set to conclude in the middle of next month.
For his part, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre has dismissed the argument that the President’s term is ending. He downplayed Deni’s remarks, asserting that the government will continue its regular operations beyond the specified date and that the current administration still has one year of its term remaining.
There are fears that this disagreement could trigger a move toward establishing a parallel government within Somalia. Puntland leader Deni added that his administration has a long history of self-governance and would continue to do so if necessary. “Beyond this point, we will not look to the current leadership for a solution; instead, we will turn our focus toward the Somali people and the regions,” he stated.
Analysts fear that the widening rift between Mogadishu and Garowe (the capital of Puntland) could plunge the country into another crisis, given Somalia’s fragile federal system. In particular, the differences seen in security and electoral processes could pose an obstacle to Somalia’s ongoing struggle against the terrorist group Al-Shabaab.
