Could Iraq’s Kurdish region return to two separate administrations?

Disagreements between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over forming a new government threaten to split Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region into rival administrations. The crisis escalated after a parliamentary session in Erbil proceeded without the PUK, whose leader, Bafel Talabani, then withdrew the party from the government. Independent Kurdish politician Yasin Aziz said the prospect of two administrations was now close, with a rival government potentially emerging in the PUK stronghold of Sulaimaniyah. The KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, is the region’s largest party, with strongholds in Erbil and Dohuk.