Politics

One candidate banned from Kurdistan election after background checks

After background checks were conducted on 773 parliamentary candidates seeking to run in the Kurdistan Region's upcoming parliamentary elections, just one has been rejected by the Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission (IHERC).

Kosar Nawzad 2018/08/15 10:54

kurdistan Kurdistan KRG Parliamentary Election IHERC

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – After background checks were conducted on 773 parliamentary candidates seeking to run in the Kurdistan Region's upcoming parliamentary elections, just one has been rejected by the Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission (IHERC).

The decision to ban the would-be parliamentarian was reached “after the necessary checks by the Ministry of Interior and later the Integrity Commission,” said the head of IHERCs registry office to Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday.

According to Zhiyar Dizayee, 39 candidates were found to have had “records that merited further inquiry,” in initial investigations, but only “one of the cases led to the rejection of the applicant.”

He did not reveal the underlying reason, other than to state that the contender had not successfully met the requirements outlined in the region’s electoral law, which states that candidates must be from the Kurdistan Region, at least 25 years of age, hold no criminal record or convictions, and must be able to read and write.

Dizayee added that he could not disclose which party the rejected applicant was part of. He did, however, specify that the person was male.

The head of Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission's (IHERC) registry office, Zhiyar Dizayee, Aug 15, 2018.

Official enrollment for candidates—only allowed if associated with a registered party—began on July 8 and ended on July 29. The commission added four days after some parties failed to meet the original deadline. Of the 773 candidates submitted, Dizayee said, 532 were male and 241 female.

A member of the Communist Party of Kurdistan, Shler Abdulmajeed, said on Sunday that many more women had planned to run in the election, but widespread harassment of females in previous elections, including in Iraq's recent national vote, have led most of them to reconsider their choice.

The election is to be held on Sep. 30. In a statement released on Saturday, the IHERC’s “Council of Commissioners decided the date for the start of the elections campaign will be from Sep. 5 until Sep. 28 at 8:00 a.m.” local time.

Editing by John J. Catherine