Somaliland — The president of Somalia's separatist region of Somaliland was awarded a controversial one-year term extension by the House of Guurti, the upper chamber of the Somaliland parliament, officials said.

Lawmakers met in the capital city of Somaliland, Hargeisa, on Thursday to debate and ratify a motion introduced by the government of President Dahir Riyale.

At today's session, 65 MPs were present with an overwhelming 61 lawmakers voting to extend the term for Mr. Riyale and his government.

Riyale's term in office officially expires next month, but the Somaliland leader has been planning to extend his term after declaring that presidential elections scheduled for May had been postponed.

Parliament hall was under tight security today, with armed police and soldiers standing guard in and around the building. A day earlier, a bomb explosion destroyed an office inside the parliament but no one was hurt.

Said Jama Ali, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Guurti, told local media that the term extension decision was approved by lawmakers because there must be a six-month period between presidential and local government elections.

He said that the House of Guurti had voted to hold local elections in October, which gives Mr. Riyale an additional six months to be in office.

Somaliland opposition parties Kulmiye and UCID issued a joint statement condemning the term extension as "illegal" and warned that Mr. Riyale "will not be recognized as President after May 15."

Riyale won the Somaliland presidential elections in 2003, after beating runner-up and Kulmiye party candidate Ahmed Silanyo by a small margin of votes.

In 2007, Mr. Riyale supported a motion extending the term for House of Guurti lawmakers by an additional four years.