By Zamzam Osman - Reporter
Somalia, 2 July 2026 – Former Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke said Somalia’s new constitution is a document, not a national agreement, citing need for consensus.
Speaking in an interview with Dawan Media’s Mizan Podcast, Sharmarke said a constitution is both a legal document and a political agreement, but that the current process had not yet secured the level of political buy-in needed from Somali political actors and federal
member states.
“A constitution is a political agreement,” Sharmarke said. “What has now been implemented is a document, not an agreement.”
Sharmarke said he viewed parts of the new constitution positively and believed some sections were better than previous versions, but said the process used to approve it and the limited consultation had caused many politicians and federal member states to question or reject it.
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He said a Somali constitution should be one accepted by the wider Somali public, political leaders and all federal member states.
“When the Somali people and all the states accept it, then it becomes a Somali constitution,” he said.
Sharmarke said the main political dispute had centred on the process, consultation and whether the constitution reflected a broader agreement. He argued that differences between the current and previous constitutional texts could still be reconciled.
He said the parliamentary system, federal structure and one-person, one-vote elections were among the core issues that had broad similarities across the competing positions, but that secondary laws, including election laws and the electoral commission structure, remained points of contention.
Sharmarke said any government formed after the next election would face the burden of implementing the constitution and resolving outstanding political disputes around it.