Residents of Somalia’s capital participated on Thursday in landmark local council elections—the country’s first one-person, one-vote poll since 1969—signaling a major departure from decades of clan-based power-sharing arrangements. The vote, however, unfolded amid opposition boycotts and heightened security concerns.

Organized by the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the elections spanned Mogadishu’s 16 districts, with more than 900,000 registered voters casting ballots at 523 polling stations. Around 20 political parties fielded candidates.

Voter Farhiyo Mohamed expressed optimism: “As mothers, we are elated because we are an important section of the population.” Yet major opposition parties rejected the process as “flawed and one-sided,” boycotting over disputes with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration.

The elections will not determine Mogadishu’s mayor or governor, as the Banadir region’s constitutional status remains unresolved—a sticking point in broader national reforms and federal-state tensions involving regions such as Jubaland and Puntland.

Security forces intensified operations against al-Shabaab threats, though no major incidents were reported. Observers hailed the vote as Somalia’s most concrete step toward direct democracy since independence-era universal suffrage, while cautioning that entrenched clan structures and political divisions pose challenges for a nationwide rollout.