US Urges Iraq’s Kurdish Region to ‘Swiftly’ Form a Government After Parliament Poll

The United States has called on Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region to rapidly form a viable government after the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) appeared to clinch parliamentary polls held on Oct. 20. “We are strongly urging political parties to engage in a prompt and sustained dialogue to swiftly form a stable and representative government without delay,” U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on Oct. 21. One day earlier, northern Iraq’s energy-rich Kurdish region held parliamentary polls that pitted the KDP against its longstanding rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). According to preliminary poll results, the KDP, which is controlled by the region’s influential Barzani family, secured the highest number of votes....