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PUK Falls to Third Place In Iraqi Kurdistan Elections

The preliminary electoral results in Iraqi Kurdistan show the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to be the biggest winner, with the new Movement for Change coming in second.

Employees of Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) count ballots during regional parliamentary elections after the closing of a polling station in Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, September 21, 2013. Iraqi Kurds voted on Saturday for a new parliament that analysts said was poised to lead the oil-producing region further down the road to greater autonomy from Baghdad.  REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX
Employees of the Independent High Electoral Commission count ballots during regional parliamentary elections in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Sept. 21, 2013. — REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

The Iraqi election commission decided to postpone declaring the election results in Iraqi Kurdistan because fraud accusations were made by the oppositionist Movement for Change against its adversaries — the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Kurdistan Region of Iraq President Massoud Barzani.

Despite that, preliminary electoral results pointed to a new political map in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which is trying to present a successful economic model compared to the rest of Iraq.

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