In Iraq's disputed areas, 111 independent candidates running in upcoming election

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In the Iraqi election scheduled for October 10, 111 independent candidates are competing for seats in the national parliament in areas disputed between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Out of the 130 candidates running in Kirkuk province, 56 of them are independent, according to a review of the electoral list. The contenders are vying for one of the 12 seats allocated to the province in the Iraqi legislature.

There are 28 independent candidates in the race in Nineveh province, which is divided into four electoral districts.

The disputed areas of Diyala province are collectively a single electoral district. Diyala will have 14 seats in the Iraqi parliament.

Tuz Khurmatu district is the only disputed area in Salahuddin province. Tuz Khrumatu is located in the second electoral district of Salahuddin, to which four of 12 seats are allocated.

Across Iraq, approximately 25 million people are entitled to vote in the upcoming parliamentary election, and more than 3,240 candidates are competing independently or within party blocs and alliances, including minority candidates, for 329 seats in the Iraqi parliament.

The former Iraqi Ba’ath regime, under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, implemented Arabization campaigns in Kirkuk Province and other Kurdish-populated areas in Nineveh, Salahuddin, and Diyala.

The campaign was meant to change the demography of the areas by forcibly displacing the Kurdish residents and replacing them with Arabs from central and southern Iraq.

Article 140, a provision that outlines a mechanism to solve the issue of the disputed territories, was introduced into the Iraqi constitution to allow its 2005 ratification by kicking the controversial decisions down the road. Over a decade has passed since the 2007 deadline for its implementation.