Iraq’s Kurdistan region delays elections
Elections for Iraq’s Kurdistan region’s presidency and parliament set for Nov. 1 will be delayed because political parties failed to present candidates, the head of the electoral commission Hendrean Mohammed told Reuters on Monday. Parties have been unable to focus on the elections because of turmoil that followed a referendum on Sept. 25 on Kurdish […]Elections for Iraq’s Kurdistan region’s presidency and parliament set for Nov. 1 will be delayed because political parties failed to present candidates, the head of the electoral commission Hendrean Mohammed told Reuters on Monday.
Parties have been unable to focus on the elections because of turmoil that followed a referendum on Sept. 25 on Kurdish independence, a Kurdish MP said on condition of anonymity. Authorities in Baghdad as well as neighbors Iran and Turkey opposed the referendum that saw a clear independence majority.
The Kurdish electoral commission’s Mohammed, speaking by phone from the KRG capital Erbil, in northern Iraq, said it is up to the Kurdistan region’s parliament to fix a new date for the elections. The deadline to present candidates expired last week and was extended until Monday.
