Two Kurdish Islamic parties form coalition for upcoming parliamentary election

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) and Kurdistan Islamic Movement (KIM) on Monday announced they would be forming a coalition for the Sep. 30 parliamentary election in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region.

The coalition is called “Toward Reform” and was the result of a meeting between the two Kurdish Islamic parties on Monday. It was officially registered with the Kurdistan Region’s Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission (IHERC), according to the parties’ joint statement.

The two Islamic parties hoped the upcoming parliamentary election in the Kurdistan Region would be fair and transparent, “free of violations and violence.”

They also hoped it “would be an opportunity to correct the course of political discourse in the region [Kurdistan],” and to “root for justice, peace, political stability,” to “eliminate injustice and corruption in the Kurdistan Region” and “overcome the current crisis and tensions plaguing the region.”

According to IHERC, the deadline for political parties to form and register their coalitions for the Sep. 30 election is Monday. The commission had already extended the deadline.

Zhiyar Dizayee, the head of the IHERC’s registry office, told Kurdistan 24 on Monday that, so far, only two coalitions have been registered. The IHERC also decided to extend the deadline once more, giving parties until Wednesday, June 27 to sign up their coalitions.

There are three main Kurdish Islamic parties in the Kurdistan Region: the KIU which currently holds 11 out of 111 seats in parliament, the Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) with six seats, and the KIM with one.

Ove the past few years, the three parties have often tried to unite or form a political coalition, but so far none of the attempts have been successful in bringing them under the umbrella of an Islamic alliance.

Editing by Nadia Riva