Kurdistan Region’s new MPs take oath of office, speakership election delayed

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Newly-elected Kurdistan Region lawmakers on Tuesday took their oaths of office during their first session after the Region’s Judicial Council recently approved the results of the Sept. 30 election.

As per the Iraqi Constitution, the session was presided over by the eldest MP, Reving Hirori, who is a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

“The winning candidates will be sworn into office, but, as the political parties have not met to discuss government formation talks, parliament speaker and his deputies will not be elected, and the session will be left open until further notice,” Begard Talabani, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) MP, told Kurdistan 24.

The Kurdistan Region has a unicameral legislature with 111 seats with eleven seats reserved for Turkmen, Christian, and Armenian parties, the first two of which are given five spots and the other, one.

Out of the 111, three MPs were not in attendance. Those are Qubad Talabani, head of the PUK faction, Shaswar Abdulwahid, head of newly established eight-seat winning New Generation Party, and KDP’s Sha’ban Ali Sha’ban.

The Region’s parties are set to hold government formation talks and enter alliances to determine the majority power to lead the parliament. With possibilities of a joint KDP-PUK deal, New Generation and Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) have stated they would not participate in such a government.

On Oct. 20, the Kurdistan Region’s Independent High Election and Referendum Commission (IHERC) announced the final result of the vote.

According to the result, KDP won the election with a significant margin, gaining 688,070 votes, securing 45 seats in the Region’s 111-seat parliament.

The PUK came in second, securing 21 seats with 319,912 votes, followed by Gorran with 186,903 votes and 12 seats.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany