Polls open in Iraqi Kurdistan for regional election

ERBIL, IRAQ: Kurds began voting in a parliamentary election in their semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq on Sunday, a year after a failed bid for independence.

With opposition parties weak, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) are likely to extend their almost three decades of sharing power.



Despite deep discontent and divisions, there appears to be little prospect of a major political shakeup as the region grapples with the fallout from the controversial poll last September.

The vote last year saw more than 92% of Kurds back secession, but the federal government rejected that as ‘illegal’.