The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Nechirvan Barzani, on Sunday asked the Kurdistan Parliament to complete all legal procedures required to hold parliamentary and presidential elections.
In an official letter, the KRG prime minister called on the Parliament to begin all the necessary procedures “to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in the Kurdistan Region within a timeframe that does not exceed three months,” Kurdistan 24 reported.
Barzani also expressed the KRG’s full support and partnership with the Kurdistan Parliament.
“Regarding the request of some parliament members to make preparations for parliamentary and presidential elections, we are ready for all kinds of cooperation and collaboration with the parliament,” Barzani said in the letter.
He added that following a series of meetings, most of the political parties reached an agreement that holding elections was the best option to guarantee unity and to resolve the issues facing the Kurdistan Region.
In early October, KRG announced that elections planned for Nov. 1 would be temporarily postponed due to events in Kurdistan following the region’s secession vote in September.
Protests Over Unpaid Wages
Meanwhile, thousands of protesters took to the streets in ten cities in the Kurdistan region on Monday, demanding salary payments and services, Ekurds Daily reported.
In Sulaymaniyah, teachers and employees gathered in front of the education directorate and blocked Salim Street, a main road into the city.
A group from Peshmerga military was also among the protesters.
Protesters called on the region’s people to join them in the protest against the Kurdistan Regional Government authorities who they say are “corrupted.”
Kurdistan is considered as the most corrupted part of Iraq. According to Kurdish lawmakers, billions of dollars are missing from Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil revenues.
A Kurdish lawmaker said in March 2017 that $1.2 billion from oil exports and Iraqi Kurdistan’s revenue has gone missing over the last three months.
