Amid fistfights, Kurds extend Massoud Barzani’s tenure
Kurdish MPs threw water bottles and fists, and ultimately voted to postpone elections for the president and constitution.
KRG President Masoud Barzani gives an interview in Erbil on June 2, 2013. (AZAD LASHKARI/Reuters)
ERBIL - Kurdistan's ruling coalition has postponed key elections and granted a two-year extension to the term of President Massoud Barzani, sparking a mass brawl in Parliament and eroding public faith in the autonomous region's fledgling democracy.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had been slated to hold presidential elections, as well as a referendum to ratify its draft constitution, on Sept. 21 – a key test of the KRG's ability to transform its pro-democracy rhetoric into durable institutions. That test has now been deferred.
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