Kurdistan Region’s main ruling party to boycott elections in Kirkuk, disputed areas

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the main ruling party in the Kurdistan Region, on Monday decided to boycott the upcoming Iraqi elections in the disputed province of Kirkuk.

In a statement released by the KDP leadership in Kirkuk-Germiyan, the party decided to boycott the upcoming Iraqi parliamentary and provincial elections in Kirkuk Province and other disputed areas.

“Kirkuk and all Kurdistani areas [disputed areas outside of the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) administration] are now under occupation,” the statement said, vowing that there is no concession on the Kurdistani identity of those areas.

“Elections require a free and peaceful atmosphere so that the people can freely elect their representatives, but now Kirkuk and Kurdistani areas outside of the KRG’s administration are under military occupation,” the statement explained.

“Therefore, elections cannot be held in such an unstable situation,” the KDP statement added.

The party also called on the people of Kirkuk to boycott the elections, stressing that “we will not give legitimacy to the occupation.”

On Oct. 16, Iraqi forces and the Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias attacked and took over the oil-rich and multi-ethnic province of Kirkuk which had been under the protection of Peshmerga since 2014 following the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) and the collapse of the Iraqi army.

According to KDP officials, all of their offices in the disputed areas have been occupied by the Iraqi army and Hashd al-Shaabi militias.

Additionally, over 180,000 people from Kirkuk and other disputed territories fled to the Kurdistan Region for fear of human rights violations and abuses at the hands of the militia groups.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany