Iraqi Kurdistan still working out kinks in new parliament
After several months of stalemate, Iraqi Kurdistan's two ruling parties announced this month a draft agreement on how to share power for the next four years — but the deal is already fraying.
Iraqi Kurdistan parliament members — or some of them, anyway — held their first session Feb. 18, electing an interim speaker and nominating candidates for top government posts amid a boycott by its second-largest party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Two members of the influential Barzani family, cousins Nechirvan and Masrour, were nominated as president and prime minister, respectively. Vala Fareed became the first female parliament speaker in the region. She was nominated by the largest party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), but is to be replaced by a PUK nominee once the parties settle their disputes.
