President Mohamud Invites Somali Future Council for May 10 Talks — 14 Days Before Constitutional Cliff

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud formally invited the Somali Future Council — the main opposition bloc comprising former PM Mohamed Hussein Roble, former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Jubbaland President Ahmed Madobe, and other key political figures — for talks in Mogadishu on May 10, 2026, as reported by Garowe Online on May 1. With just 14 days remaining before Mohamud's presidential term expires on May 15, the May 10 meeting represents the last realistic diplomatic window to reach an agreement before Somalia enters an unprecedented constitutional vacuum. The Somali Future Council had previously threatened to establish a parallel election process if dialogue was refused, and Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni had warned that the FGS 'will no longer be considered in existence' after May 15 without agreed elections. The UN, UK, and EU all publicly welcomed the invitation and urged all parties to engage constructively. However, the structural obstacles remain formidable: opposition leaders reject both the indirect clan-selection system and the direct-election model in the disputed March 2026 constitutional amendments, arguing that only the 2012 provisional constitution provides a legitimate framework. Speaker Adan Madobe's unilateral one-year parliamentary extension (rejected by opposition, Puntland, and Jubbaland as unconstitutional) adds further complexity. With Al-Shabaab continuing to hold Adan Yabal in Hiiraan (Day 12 since the April 19 seizure) and SNA resources stretched, a successful political deal on May 10 is now essential not only to Somalia's constitutional order but to its security trajectory.