Iraqi Kurdistan Elections Could Be Turning Point

The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) in Iraq announced that the campaign for the legislative elections in Iraqi Kurdistan will start on Aug. 28 and last until Sept. 17. The Sept. 21 legislative elections will be the most crucial elections in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq's history, as it may be a turning point to change the political shape of the next parliament as well as the new government cabinet.

The president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Massoud Barzani, announced on May 26 that all three elections — presidential, legislative and provincial — would be held on Sept. 21. According to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s parliamentary election law, presidential and legislative elections should be held simultaneously. But soon after this announcement, on June 30, parliament extended Barzani’s term for another two years. Meanwhile, IHEC delayed the provincial elections until Nov. 21.

Although the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — led by Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani — was in favor of postponing legislative elections, opposition parties such as the Change movement, Islamic Union and Islamic Group insisted on holding the elections. However, the PUK is suspicious of the voter rolls —  a parliamentary commission  announced that 177,000 names of deceased voters have not been removed.

In the Sept. 21 legislative election, 2,803,000 are eligible to  vote to send 111 representatives to a fourth parliament.