The prime minister is traditionally the head of the legislative body but also shares executive powers with the president.

[3] From mid-2013 to mid-2014, the KRG "built up their own defenses by creating a security belt stretching more than 1,000 km (600 miles) from the Iranian border all the way to Syria – skirting around Mosul, a city of 2 million people they appear[ed] to have no intention of fighting for.

On 1 July 2014, Masoud Barzani announced that "Iraq's Kurds will hold an independence referendum within months.

[6][7] The referendum was regarded as illegal by the federal government in Baghdad, and on 6 November, Iraq's Supreme Federal Court ruled that no Iraqi province was allowed to secede in order to preserve the unity of Iraq.

[8] On 14 November, the KRG announced it would respect the Supreme Federal Court's ruling, stating that "this decision must become a basis for starting an inclusive national dialogue between (Kurdish authorities in) Erbil and Baghdad to resolve all disputes".