Kurdistan Parliament extends its legislative term by a year: Speaker

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The majority of lawmakers on early Sunday voted for the extension of the current four-year term of the Kurdistan Parliament by one more year, the house’s speaker announced.

The approval came days after the members of parliament had been discussing a proposal that suggested extending the legislative term until December 31, 2023, recently.

A total of 80 lawmakers, consisting of MPs of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a number of Goran (Change) Movement, as well as 11 other members of the ethnic and religious components' block, voted in favor of the extension, Rewaz Faeq, the speaker, announced. The legislative house has 111 members.  

This is the eighth time that the Kurdish parliament has extended its terms since 1995.

The extension came after the political parties failed to hold the sixth parliamentary elections in Oct. 1 this year, a date set by the Region’s President Nechirvan Barzani in February.

Political disagreements over the electoral constituencies and the quota for ethnic and religious component seats were at the center of the contention.

To facilitate reaching an agreement among the parties, Jennine-Hennis Plaschart, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) participated in a number of meetings of Kurdish parties to set a date for the general elections. No date has yet been set.