The Parliament in Iraq’s autonomous northern Kurdish region voted on Sunday to delay elections and extend its term by a year amid wider national political paralysis.
The region last held elections four years ago and people had been due to vote this month.
Disagreements between its two major parties have led to politicians staying until a new parliament is elected in late 2023.
Eighty of 111 representatives voted for the measure, the regional parliament said, with members of the opposition abstaining.
The delay is the result of disputes between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over electoral constituencies.
But it also is part of a broader power struggle between the Parliament’s two biggest parties, said Shivan Fazil, a researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Image Credit: Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash
