Iraqi Parliament rejects Kurdistan independence referendum

Iraqi Parliament on Tuesday (September 12) voted to reject Kurdistan independence referendum scheduled for September 25. Iraqi Parliament rejected with a majority vote the referendum on independence of Kurdistan following a session on the issue. Parliament also authorized Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to take all measures to preserve the unity of Iraq. A member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) bloc in Iraqi parliament, Mohammed Othman, told NRT that Kurdistan Region’s referendum was put in the parliament’s session on the request of 80 lawmakers. The decision to reject Kurdistan independence referendum was made without taking views of the Kurdish lawmakers, Othman added. He further aid Kurdish lawmakers left the session after the other members of Iraqi parliament did not listen to the Kurdish lawmakers, who called for a committee to tackle the issue.