Four Kurdish parties reject results of manual recount in Iraq elections
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Four Kurdish political parties on Saturday said they reject the elections results after Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced the outcome of the manual vote recount.
The Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIUK), Gorran (Change) Movement, Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal), and Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ) met in Erbil to discuss the political situation in the Kurdistan Region and the IHEC’s announcement of final results for the parliamentary elections.
On Thursday, the IHEC revealed the results of a manual recount of votes from the controversial May 12 parliamentary elections with little changes from the previous outcomes.
In a statement following the meeting, the Kurdish parties said they “reject the results,” and reiterated their previous calls for a complete vote recount.
The four parties vowed to take legal and political measures to restore confidence in the political process and protect the voice of voters.
The manual recount process was just a cover-up for the fraud that was committed during the parliamentary elections, the statement said, adding it did not abide by the amended Elections Law passed by the outgoing Parliament.
“Despite the injustice against some of the political parties and people, we are ready for a national dialogue [with other political parties] in Kurdistan to find solutions to the current crises and problems,” the four Kurdish parties stressed.
The parties also reiterated the importance of national consensus through balanced, real political partnership while considering the political situation in Iraq and the region to prevent further instability and tensions.
“The four parties agreed to have a united front in Baghdad and take more joint steps to protect the constitutional and national rights,” the statement added.
The parties called for serious efforts to hold “fair and clean” parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan Region that will strengthen reconciliation.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany