Mogadishu, Somalia – Somalia’s opposition faced growing international pressure on Saturday to respond positively to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s invitation for talks, as the country’s election deadlock deepened ahead of a disputed May 15 deadline.
The European Union, the United Nations and the United Kingdom all welcomed the government’s call for dialogue, urging Somalia’s rival political camps to engage constructively and seek a negotiated way forward.
The statements came after Villa Somalia invited opposition leaders grouped under the Somali Future Council to a May 10 meeting, saying the talks would focus on elections, state-building, national unity and Somalia’s future political direction.
The opposition has warned it will no longer recognise Mohamud after May 15, arguing that his four-year constitutional mandate expires on that date.
The president’s allies say parliament’s recent constitutional changes allow federal institutions to remain in office for five years.
The growing diplomatic response increases pressure on the opposition to engage in talks, even as it accuses Mohamud of seeking a unilateral extension without broad political consensus.
Diplomatic push
Francesca Di Mauro, the European Union ambassador to Somalia, said the EU welcomed Mohamud’s invitation to the Future Council.
“In the interest of all Somalis, we hope for a positive response, and that a constructive way forward can be agreed, esp. on elections,” she wrote on X.
“The EU is ready to support such Somali efforts,” she added.
The UN mission in Somalia also welcomed the federal government’s invitation, describing the proposed meeting as an effort to jointly find a way forward on critical national priorities.
“We renew our call for all parties involved to participate in further dialogue constructively and in good faith, with the interest of all Somalis as the foremost consideration,” UNTMIS said.
It said the United Nations, together with other partners, “continues to stand ready to support Somali efforts to resolve outstanding issues”.
The British Embassy in Mogadishu issued a separate statement from UK ambassador Charles King, who also welcomed the government’s invitation.
“During this critical period, dialogue is the best way to address national priorities, promote stability and support the interests of all Somalis,” King said.
“As a partner and friend, the UK stands ready to support Somali-led efforts,” he added.
Opposition test
The three statements did not explicitly endorse the government’s position in the mandate dispute. But they strengthened the international message that dialogue, not confrontation, should guide Somalia through the crisis.
That message now puts the Somali Future Council under scrutiny.
The opposition’s May 2 statement rejected what it called “elections by appointment” and accused Mohamud of trying to remain in office beyond his legitimate term. It said it would regard him as “an ordinary citizen like the rest of the people” after May 15.
The council also vowed to lead “peaceful resistance, mass mobilisation and national consultation” to prevent what it described as a constitutional vacuum and secure a legitimate government.
But the statement also said the opposition would present an electoral framework within one week, a pledge that has raised questions about why it has not yet made public a detailed alternative plan after years of disputes over Somalia’s electoral model.
Opposition figures have rejected Mohamud’s push towards direct elections, saying the process lacks consensus and gives Villa Somalia too much control.
They have also criticised previous indirect election models dominated by federal member-state leaders, clan elders, and political brokers.
That leaves the opposition under pressure to explain what system it wants, who should manage it and how Somalia can avoid another disputed transition.
Deadline politics
The May 10 meeting could become a key test of whether the government and opposition can lower tensions before the May 15 deadline.
Villa Somalia said the invitation followed consultations with politicians, former leaders, traditional elders and different sections of Somali society.
Mohamud has argued that Somalia must move towards universal suffrage to end decades of elite bargaining and indirect voting. His opponents say electoral reform cannot justify extending political mandates without agreement among major political actors.
The dispute has revived memories of April 2021, when former president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmaajo, backed a two-year extension after his mandate expired and delayed elections remained unresolved.
The move split the security forces and triggered armed clashes in Mogadishu before Farmaajo abandoned the extension under pressure from opposition leaders, regional states, civil society and international partners.
Somalia later returned to an indirect electoral process that brought Mohamud back to power in May 2022.
The latest diplomatic interventions suggest Somalia’s partners are trying to prevent another confrontation as the political countdown tightens.
For the government, the challenge is to make the May 10 talks meaningful rather than symbolic.
For the opposition, the challenge is to show that it can move from rejecting Mohamud’s model to presenting a credible alternative that can command wider support.
With less than two weeks before May 15, Somalia’s political crisis has entered a phase in which both sides face pressure to compromise, but the opposition now faces the clearest international signal yet that it should take the talks offer seriously.