Iraqi Kurdish ministers resign amid protests

AP
Iraqi Kurdish protesters shout slogans in Sulaimaniyah, in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq, on December 19, 2017. (AFP)

BAGHDAD: A Kurdish lawmaker says two influential parties have withdrawn from the self-ruled Kurdish regional government amid streets protests over delayed salaries, poor services and rampant corruption.
Sarwa Abdul-Wahid, who leads the Change Party bloc in the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad, told The Associated Press on Thursday the current Kurdish government “lacks legitimacy in the eyes of the citizens, who demand its resignation.”
Abdul-Wahid says three ministers from the Change Party and two others with the Islamic Group Party have left the 21-minister Cabinet. She said the Change Party-affiliated regional parliament speaker and the head of the Board of Investment will also resign.
Security forces have opened fire on protests in recent days, killing at least two people and wounding at least 80.

Topics: Change Party bloc Kurdish Regional Government Iraq