Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has formally invited the country's main opposition groups to national talks on federal elections, in an attempt to break a standoff that has divided Mogadishu for months.

A statement from the presidency on Monday said the consultations will be held in Mogadishu from 14 to 18 November. The forum aims to bring the parties together to discuss federal elections “on the basis of mutual understanding and compromise,” according to the statement reported by Dawan Africa and Shabelle Media.

Four groups were invited: the Nabad iyo Nolol party, the Somali Future Council, the National Unity Forum and a civil society coalition.

Address to the nation

The invitation came a day after Mohamud gave a national address on Sunday night. He said the door to dialogue was open and his government was ready to sit down with anyone who held a different view. He added that consultation must not stop the government from making decisions, ChimpReports said.

He also strongly defended the one-person, one-vote local elections held in South West, Galmudug and Hirshabelle states and in the Banadir region around Mogadishu. He described them as a return to democratic practices Somalia abandoned 57 years ago, when it moved towards a clan-based power-sharing system.

“Our country's political process has reached a point the Somali people can be proud of,” Mohamud said, adding that “not a single armed incident occurred at any polling station across the country.”

According to the president, the polls covered 50 of the country's 92 districts as they were drawn in 1990. He said 1,824,853 voters registered, with 1,102 polling stations and 26,742 candidates, and 1,435 officials elected. “Respecting the will of the people and accepting the results are the foundation of a lasting democracy,” he said.

Timetable at the heart of the dispute

The talks come against a contested electoral calendar. On 15 October, the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission set elections for both houses of parliament for 15 April 2027 and the presidential vote for 15 May 2027. The commission based the presidential date on a five-year term counted from the day Mohamud was sworn in.

The government welcomed the schedule, but opposition leaders rejected it. They argue that elections need a broader political agreement first. They also question the legality of constitutional changes passed by parliament in March 2026, which extended presidential and parliamentary terms from four to five years. The government says those changes allow Mohamud to stay in office until May 2027.

The opposition is not speaking with one voice. In July, the Somali Future Council, Nabad iyo Nolol and the National Unity Forum met the government separately and each submitted its own proposals, Dawan reported. It remains unclear whether all four invited groups will attend the November forum, or whether the presidency expects a formal agreement to come out of it.

Some federal member states are also opposed. Puntland has rejected the federal election plan, according to regional media.

Why it matters for the region

Somalia's political stability matters greatly to its neighbours, Kenya included. Kenyan troops serve in the African Union mission fighting al-Shabaab. The militant group has repeatedly exploited political disputes in Mogadishu, and its attacks have reached Kenya's border counties. The president's office says it will pursue electoral reform alongside its military campaign against the group.

Past rounds of talks between Mohamud and his rivals have collapsed. Opposition leaders have accused him of an inflexible stance on how the vote should be run. Whether the November forum goes differently will likely decide if Somalia reaches its 2027 polls with a broadly accepted framework or a deepening crisis.

Photos: ChimpReports; Somalia Today