Garowe (WDN) — Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni has announced that Puntland has cancelled all agreements previously reached with Somalia’s Federal Government and will independently manage its affairs, until Somali political leaders reach a settlement acceptable to all sides.

Deni said Puntland would no longer operate under political arrangements it considers invalid or superseded, while remaining part of the broader Somali political process.

“Every agreement between us and the Federal Government has been cancelled. We will operate independently until Somalis reach an agreement. The Puntland people in Mogadishu are simply employees who came for work,” Deni said.

The announcement follows nearly a year of increasingly unproductive negotiations involving the Federal Government, opposition groups and several federal member states. Despite repeated meetings and mediation efforts, the political leadership has failed to reach a durable agreement on elections, constitutional changes and the rules governing the country’s next political transition.

What Puntland Is Changing

Deni’s announcement does not amount to a declaration of independence. Instead, Puntland is signaling that it will conduct its political and administrative affairs without relying on agreements with the Federal Government that it has now declared cancelled.

In practical terms, Puntland intends to manage its internal administration, institutions and political affairs on its own terms while the wider national dispute remains unresolved.

Deni also indicated that Puntland officials and representatives working in Mogadishu should be understood primarily as employees serving in their professional capacities, rather than as evidence that Puntland remains politically bound by the Federal Government. The distinction is important.

Puntland is not saying it has left Somalia. It is saying that, until a national political agreement is reached, it will not accept Mogadishu unilaterally determining its political or administrative affairs.

A Political Process Going Nowhere

Somalia’s political crisis has increasingly become a problem of institutional paralysis.

The country remains divided over fundamental questions: What electoral system should be used? What constitutional framework should govern the transition? Who has the authority to amend the Constitution? And how can an election be considered legitimate if major political forces and federal member states reject the process?

For months, opposition leaders and federal member states have negotiated with the Federal Government without producing an agreement capable of resolving these disputes.

The result is a political process that generates meetings, statements and committees but little tangible progress.

Several federal member states have increasingly challenged Mogadishu’s approach to the transition, while opposition groups have demanded guarantees that electoral and constitutional processes will not be controlled by the incumbent administration.

The longer the impasse continues, the greater the risk that Somalia’s federal system will be shaped by unilateral decisions rather than negotiated consensus.

Why Deni’s Decision Matters

Against this backdrop, Deni’s announcement establishes a clear political and administrative boundary between Puntland and the Federal Government.

Puntland has previously suspended or severed cooperation with Mogadishu over disagreements concerning federalism, constitutional changes and the country’s political direction. The latest move reinforces that position by rejecting agreements Deni says previously bound the two sides.

Importantly, Puntland is not declaring secession from Somalia. Deni’s position is that Puntland will remain part of the Somali political framework while refusing to accept decisions from Mogadishu that it considers unilateral or inconsistent with federal principles.

In other words, Puntland is stepping back from political dependence on Mogadishu—not from Somalia itself.

The Cost of Failed Negotiations

The prolonged talks have produced diminishing returns. Instead of resolving the central disputes, they have deepened mistrust between Mogadishu and the federal member states and reinforced opposition concerns that the political transition is being shaped by competing interests rather than a shared national framework.

A functioning federal system cannot depend on one side imposing decisions while expecting the other to accept them. Likewise, an election is unlikely to command broad legitimacy when major political actors disagree over the rules before voting begins. The constitutional dispute makes the situation even more serious.

If Somalia cannot agree on the rules governing elections, institutions and the distribution of political authority, the country risks entering another transition in which the legality of the process itself becomes the central dispute.

Puntland’s Calculated Position

Deni’s decision can be viewed as a calculated response to what Puntland considers a dysfunctional political process.Rather than declaring independence, Puntland has chosen to manage its affairs independently, withdraw from agreements it considers no longer valid, and wait for a national political settlement.

That position leaves room for renewed cooperation. If Somalia’s political leaders eventually reach an agreement that Puntland accepts, Deni has indicated that Puntland can reconsider its position within that broader framework.

The dispute therefore remains fundamentally political. Puntland is demanding that its constitutional and political interests be included in any national settlement rather than accepting arrangements imposed without its agreement.

Somalia Needs Agreement, Not Endless Negotiation

The fundamental problem is no longer the absence of dialogue. Somalia has had dialogue for nearly a year. The problem is the failure to turn dialogue into agreement.

The country cannot remain indefinitely trapped between competing constitutional interpretations, disputed electoral plans and negotiations that repeatedly end without a settlement.

Puntland’s latest decision is therefore a warning to Mogadishu: federal member states cannot simply be expected to remain bound by political arrangements they believe have been unilaterally altered or abandoned.

At the same time, Puntland has left the door open to a national settlement. Deni has not declared secession. He has instead said Puntland will manage its affairs independently while waiting for Somali leaders to agree on the country’s political future.

The real challenge now lies with Somalia’s political leadership: end the cycle of inconclusive negotiations, agree on the constitutional and electoral rules, and rebuild a federal political framework in which Puntland and the other federal member states have a genuine place at the table.

Until that happens, Puntland’s decision to step back from Mogadishu may be less a rejection of Somalia than a demand that Somalia finally agree on how its federal system is supposed to work.

WardheerNews