Iraqi Kurdistan: New KRG president, still a Barzani; oil sales increase

Presidential election: Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Nechirvan Barzani was elected president in a vote by the of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s parliament on 28 May. Barzani won 68 votes from the 81 MPs present. The vote was boycotted by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and New Generation Movement (Naway Nwe), due to wider disagreements with the KDP. Barzani had previously been serving as prime minister of the KRG. He was expected to nominate his cousin, Kurdistan Region Security Council head Masrour Barzani, to take over as PM.