As Kurdistan parliamentary elections approach, most parties expect more seats
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – As the Kurdistan Region prepares to hold a parliamentary election in September, Kurdish parties predict an increase in the number of seats they currently hold in the regional parliament.
The Sep. 30 poll will be the fifth legislative election in the semi-autonomous region since 1992. The previous one was on Sep. 21, 2013.
The number of seats the leading Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan Region’s 111-seat Parliament currently hold are as follows: Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) 38 seats, Gorran (Change) 24, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) 18, Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) 10, and Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) six.
With all the developments and incidents over the past five years, almost all the parties predict to secure more seats in the 2018 election.
The KDP remains the largest party in the Kurdistan Region over the past decade. They have nominated 100 candidates for the September ballot.
“Over the past few years, the KDP has achieved many things, including the victory in the fight against [the Islamic State], holding a referendum, and maintaining the Kurdistan Region’s status as a semi-autonomous entity. We consider all these things the KDP’s duties,” Kawa Gardi from KDP’s election office told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday.
“Therefore, we predict to gain over 42 seats in the upcoming election.”
Gorran, which has often been criticized by political analysts over the past five years for having one foot in the government and the other as a government opposition, is currently the second largest parliamentary faction and expects to gain at least six more seats this year.
“Based on our calculations, our votes will increase this time compared to the previous election. We predict to gain over 30 seats,” Karzan Gardi from Gorran’s election office in Erbil told Kurdistan 24.
The PUK, which has been suffering from ongoing internal divisions and disunity, expects to gain seven extra seats in the upcoming poll.
“We believe we will gain 25 seats in the coming election,” Hazhar Mohammed from PUK’s election office in Erbil told Kurdistan 24. “We have a good program, and we are busy making changes inside the party.”
Meanwhile, the Islamic coalition called Toward Reform, which includes the KIU and Kurdistan Islamic Movement (KIM), believes they will be the fourth largest bloc in the Parliament.
“The information obtained by our offices from different cities and towns across the Kurdistan Region show that we [the coalition] will secure over 11 seats,” the head of KIM’s election office, Nawzad Khidr, said.
Political analysts expect a change in the number of seats each party currently holds due to the regional developments in Kurdistan over the past few years.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
(Additional reporting by Hoshmand Sadiq)