Somalia’s president seeks to unite allies in Baidoa as leadership contest intensifies after takeover
MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has wrapped up days of intensive meetings in Baidoa, capping a high-stakes effort to restore order in a city his government seized by force and to align fractious allies now competing for the region’s top political post. The president arrived in Baidoa with a broad delegation of […]
Black News 
MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has wrapped up days of intensive meetings in Baidoa, capping a high-stakes effort to restore order in a city his government seized by force and to align fractious allies now competing for the region’s top political post.
The president arrived in Baidoa with a broad delegation of federal security officials, focusing on stabilizing a city shaken by unrest, widespread looting, and uncertainty following the military removal of the regional administration led by Abdiasis Laftagaren. The takeover upended the local power structure and exposed deep political fault lines that have yet to settle.
In meetings that stretched over several days, Mohamud and his team worked to reassert control, restore calm, and lay the groundwork for a political transition. Central to that effort is a new electoral timeline. Authorities announced that twin elections – one municipal and another to select regional members of parliament – will be held on the 28th of this month. Both votes, they said, will follow a universal suffrage model, part of the government’s broader pledge to expand direct voting across the country.
But even as the government moves to project stability, political tensions are intensifying beneath the surface. The contest to replace Laftagaren has drawn in several of Mohamud’s own allies, some of whom hold senior positions at the federal level. Their competing ambitions have complicated efforts to present a unified front at a moment when cohesion is critical.
Among the leading contenders is parliamentary speaker Adan Mohamed Nur. He faces a crowded and competitive field drawn largely from within the president’s camp. Despite the rivalry, a widely held view persists that Mohamud’s backing will ultimately determine who secures the seat.
For now, Baidoa remains at a delicate crossroads – caught between an urgent push for order and an unfolding political contest that could shape the region’s leadership for years to come.
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