𐒇𐒖𐒔 🌊 🇸🇴 🇵🇸 🇸🇩 ☪️ 📚 ☭

Unprecedented and extraordinary In a case brought by former President @HESharifShAhmed, Somalia’s Supreme Court (@Somsupremecourt) has ruled against President @HassanSMohamud’s term extension, determining that his constitutional mandate ended on 15 May 2026 and Parliament’s on 14 April. The court did not strike down the constitutional amendments. It ruled that they did not extend the mandates of the current officeholders, declared their post-expiry exercises of constitutional and statutory powers invalid, and limited the cabinet to routine caretaker functions. It also ordered political stakeholders to agree on an electoral framework within 30 days and hold elections within 90 days. In a separate statement, the court declared the attempted dismissal of Chief Justice Bashe Yusuf Ahmed (@Bashe_Ahmed) announced on the presidency’s Facebook page, null and void, citing the absence of constitutional authority. Significantly, all five judges on the panel signed the judgment. This was not a ruling by the chief justice whom the president tried to remove. For a president already embroiled in disputes with federal member states and much of the political opposition, this is a devastating setback after three years of largely unchecked unilateralism. The choice now is clear: respect the ruling and negotiate an agreed path to elections, or persist with unilateralism and deepen the crisis. President Hassan Sheikh now faces a clear choice: respect the judgment of the highest court in the land and help pull Somalia back from the precipice, or defy it and risk pushing the country over.

According to local sources in Somalia’s Puntland state, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's dismissal of Supreme Court Chief Justice Baashe has left Puntland President Said Deni deeply disappointed. Sources said Baashe was preparing to announce a ruling on Saturday that would have annulled the constitutional amendments passed by parliament last year, and that Deni and the UAE had spent large sums of money on the plan. With the dismissal, the plan has collapsed.