French Consul General in Erbil urges speedy gov. formation following Kurdistan elections

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The French Consul General in Erbil on Monday congratulated the people of Kurdistan on holding a successful election and urged politicians to begin forming a government that meets the needs of the people.

“First of all, I want to congratulate the people of Kurdistan for having carried out the election in a smooth and peaceful way, this is very important,” Dominique Mas, the French Consul General in Erbil, told Kurdistan 24.

Mas agreed that holding the elections on Sept. 30 was the right decision, noting that the low turnout rate was a sign that the people of Kurdistan want politicians to enact reforms.

“For me, this [low turnout] shows how the people of Kurdistan are expecting inputs from the politicians,” he said.

The French Consul General likened the low turnout to southern Iraqi provinces during the country’s May 12 parliamentary polls.

Mas explained the high level of abstention is a sign the people of Kurdistan are “waiting for public services to be provided in good quality, [and] waiting for good governance.”

“I would like to urge the politicians to really increase and speed the process for gathering the parliament, the process for nominating a government, and then starting to work on reforms, starting to work for the benefit of all the people of Kurdistan.”

Kurdistan’s parliamentary election kicked off on Sept. 30 for over three million voters, the first regional elections since the defeat of the so-called Islamic State.

The Kurdistan Region’s Independent High Election and Referendum Commission (IHERC) announced the preliminary results of 85 percent of the ballots on Oct. 4, with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leading the way having received 595,592 votes, followed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) with 287,575, and Gorran with 164,336.

IHERC spokesperson Sherwan Zrar said the Election Commission had received 1,045 complaints related to voting which the Commission is currently investigating.

According to Zrar, once the investigations into the complaints are over, the Commission will announce the complete results, and there might be a change in the outcomes.