Iraqi Kurdistan elects speaker after two-year deadlock

Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region elected Vala Fareed Ibrahim as parliament speaker on Wednesday, ending more than two years without a functioning regional legislature after delayed elections.

The chamber held its first session with 52 lawmakers present. Ibrahim, the candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party bloc, was selected as speaker.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which has 23 lawmakers, boycotted the session along with the 15-member New Generation bloc and several smaller groups.

Ibrahim said after the session that her election “serves all segments of Kurdistan and is not against any side” and urged parties to return to parliament.

PUK official Salar Mahmoud told AFP that his party supports joint action and national consensus, but said the KDP had repeated “the same mistakes of the past”.

The regional legislature is now due to elect a Kurdistan president and prime minister.