US Envoy to Urge Kurdish Parties to Avoid Iraqi Parliament Boycott - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk is expected to call on the Kurdish parties to participate in the Iraqi political process and to refrain from boycotting the activities of the parliament in Baghdad, the Rudaw media group reported.

Brett McGurk is expected to hold meetings on May 21 with the representatives of the Change Movement (Gorran), Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ), New Generation, Islamic Group (Komal), and Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) to persuade them to participate in the activities of the Iraqi parliament, the Rudaw media group reported.

The media outlet noted, citing a Gorran representative, that officials from their party would make a decision on participation in the political process on their own, and neither the US side nor Iran would affect the move.

According to the election results, Sairun, a populist Iraqi coalition led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr won the election.

READ MORE: What You Need to Know About Parliamentary Election in Iraq

On May 12, parliamentary elections were held in Iraq for the first time since the country was liberated from the Daesh* terrorist group. Following the vote, a number of Kurdish parties rejected the election results and called for a manual recount of ballots. According to the Alsumaria TV channel, the four parties have demanded to hold a new vote in Iraqi Kurdistan.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia