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Somaliland Lawmakers Vote to Extend President's Term by Two Years


FILE - Ruling party candidate Muse Bihi Abdi speaks to the media after casting his vote in the presidential election in Hargeisa, in the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland, in Somalia, Nov. 13, 2017.
FILE - Ruling party candidate Muse Bihi Abdi speaks to the media after casting his vote in the presidential election in Hargeisa, in the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland, in Somalia, Nov. 13, 2017.

Lawmakers in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland have extended President Muse Bihi Abdi's current term of office by two years ahead of its expiration in November, the senate chairman said Saturday.

The region's electoral body said last month it had postponed a presidential election due in November to 2023 because of time and financial constraints, among other reasons.

It was unclear whether that poll has now been scrapped.

Saleeban Mahmoud Aden, Somaliland's senate chairman, said 72 members of parliament voted Saturday to extend Abdi's term by a "two-year period." One MP objected.

In August, deadly protests by opposition supporters broke out in the region with demonstrators demanding elections be held in November amid suspicions the president wanted to delay the poll and extend his term.

There was no immediate reaction from the opposition to the parliament's extension of the president's term.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for its independence. The region has been mostly peaceful while Somalia has grappled with three decades of civil war.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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