Top Iraq Kurdish party wins local legislature vote

[October 02, 2013]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's electoral commission says the leading party in the self-ruled Kurdish region has come out first in a September vote for the local legislature, gaining eight seats compared to its previous standing.

Commission spokesman Safaa al-Moussawi told a press conference in the regional capital, Irbil, that the Kurdistan Democratic Party had secured 38 seats, making it the largest single bloc in the 111-seat parliament.

Opposition party Goran won 24 seats, taking the second place slot from Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. PUK won only 18 seats, down from the 29 it took in 2009.

The Wednesday results are not expected to upend the domination of PUK and KDP, which have a power-sharing agreement. But they illustrate frustration with alleged corruption and perceived heavy-handedness by private security forces.

[Associated Press]

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