Islamist lawmakers resign en masse from Kurdistan's parliament

Shafaq News/ The lawmakers of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) have filed their resignation from the self-perpetuating parliament of the Kurdistan region, vice president of the bloc Esmail Ali Taha Sgery said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in a press conference at the Parliament building in Erbil, Surgery said, "the people entrusted us to their votes for four years only. However, we were forced to abide by the corrupt and bad norm of extending the mandate of the current lineup illegally."

"The term of the legislature has been extended for eight years without any legal grounds," he added, "if there were a proper justification, we would have endorsed it."

"It has been 20 sessions since the term was extended, and the parliament has not convened once," he concluded.