Monday June 16, 2025
FILE — Lawmakers gather during a previous session of Somalia’s Lower House of Parliament at Villa Hargeisa in Mogadishu. The legislature has repeatedly struggled to meet quorum in recent months, with several sittings postponed due to chronic absenteeism. Monday’s scheduled session was the latest to be delayed after just 87 MPs attended — well short of the 139 required.
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia’s Lower House of Parliament was forced to postpone its Monday session after failing to meet the minimum quorum, disrupting a legislative agenda that included the swearing-in of two new members and a vote on a pan-African child rights treaty.
Only 87 lawmakers attended the sitting, falling short of the 139 members required for an official quorum, according to parliamentary rules. It was the first session scheduled since lawmakers returned from the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Among the delayed agenda items was a vote on Somalia’s ratification of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, a key legal framework adopted by the African Union that sets standards for protecting children’s rights across the continent. The oath ceremony for two newly elected MPs was also postponed, alongside other routine legislative items.
The disruption adds to a growing list of delayed sessions over the past year, many of which have been cancelled due to low attendance. Speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe has issued multiple warnings over the course of his tenure, accusing some lawmakers of neglecting their constitutional duties.
“This House cannot carry out its responsibilities if members continue to be absent,” said Deputy Speaker Abdullahi Abshirow, calling on MPs to attend the rescheduled session on Wednesday.
The problem is not new. In early 2023, Speaker Madobe publicly condemned repeated absences and urged the Parliamentary Ethics Committee to investigate chronic no-shows. At the time, a vote on the national budget had to be postponed twice after fewer than 100 lawmakers appeared. When the budget eventually passed, 138 MPs had skipped the vote entirely.
The Somali constitution requires two-thirds of MPs—184 members—for a full quorum. However, Parliament has frequently failed to meet this benchmark, with some sessions in 2025 collapsing after fewer than 120 MPs showed up. Despite calls for accountability, there remains no enforcement mechanism to penalize absences or require lawmakers to justify their nonattendance.
Citizens say the lack of consequences has created a culture of impunity. A 2016 report by Hiiraan Online revealed that absenteeism in the 9th Parliament ranged from 66% to 94% among the worst offenders. Attendance data for subsequent parliaments has not been made public.
In recent months, the quorum crisis has dovetailed with deepening political unrest. A parliamentary session in February fell apart when only 137 lawmakers appeared—just two shy of the minimum required—sparking speculation that opposition MPs had staged a tactical boycott to block a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre. Similar dynamics played out in May when another session failed as pressure mounted on Speaker Madobe himself, with rival MPs accusing him of mismanaging parliamentary affairs and threatening his removal.
Parliament’s fragility is not shaped by politics alone. Last month, heavy rains turned Mogadishu’s streets into rivers, halting transport and forcing yet another session to be called off.
A new sitting is now scheduled for Wednesday. But parliamentary leaders, once again urging lawmakers to show up, face a familiar dilemma. Without lasting reforms to curb absenteeism and ease political rivalries, sessions may continue to collapse before they even begin.
