Officials of the Federal Government ordered to vacate the positions of minister or member of parliament

Mogadishu (Caasimada Online) – Somalia is moving to a new system that prohibits a single official from simultaneously holding the positions of minister and member of parliament, after amendments were made to the constitutional article that allowed this.

Article 97 of the provisional constitution of 2012 allowed a member of parliament to be part of the Council of Ministers, but that article has now been removed, as a system separating the two positions is being implemented.

The office of the Chairman of the Independent Commission for the Review and Implementation of the Constitution, Avv. Burhaan Aadan Cumar, has sent a notice to the Council of Ministers regarding the obligations arising from this constitutional change.

As stated in the announcement, members of the Council of Ministers who are also parliamentarians have been informed to choose between the two positions, with a six-month period for the new article to take effect starting from April 14, 2026, and ending on October 14, 2026.

“A minister who is a member of parliament will lose their membership in the Council of Ministers. Similarly, a parliamentarian will lose their parliamentary membership if they accept another government position,” the statement from the Chairman of the Commission said.

This means that an official holding a ministerial position cannot continue to be a member of the House of Representatives if they wish to retain their government position, while a parliamentarian accepting another government position will lose their parliamentary membership.

This change has also been interpreted as a step to separate the powers of the legislative and executive branches, so that both sides can fulfill their constitutional obligations, including accountability.

When the transition period ends on October 14, 2026, the relevant authorities are expected to elect one of the two positions, which will end the practice of one person simultaneously being a member of both the Council of Ministers and Parliament.