Kurdistan Parliament to continue sessions on June 2: MP
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Kurdish political parties decided to resume parliamentary sessions on June 2 following a meeting with the Kurdistan Parliament's presidency, Chiya Sharif, a member of the Foreign Relations and Kurdish Diaspora Committee and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), told Kurdistan 24.
The Kurdistan Parliament's presidency met with the parties on Tuesday to discuss ending the 75 days of inactivity in the Kurdistan parliament caused by political disagreements among Kurdish parties over the Kurdistan Region's parliamentary elections scheduled for Oct. 1.
On Tuesday, Deputy Speaker of Kurdistan Region Parliament Hemin Hawrami welcomed Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani's "productive" initiative to resolve the political deadlock among the parties.
Sharif also said that fundamental disagreements among the political parties over amending the elections law and the form of the Kurdistan Region's Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission (IHERC) continue.
The IHERC mandate expired on Dec. 20, 2019. To renew its mandate, Kurdish lawmakers need to pass a new law.
"So far, no agreement has been reached on this," he told Kurdistan 24.
Sharif added that the UN and European countries had earlier called for the elections to be held on time.
Nevertheless, some parties are still trying to postpone the elections for a year or two. However, he said the KDP "continues to demand to hold the elections on time."
The KDP last month accused the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of attempting to delay the elections.
On Thursday, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) held a closed meeting with leading members of the PUK, the Kurdistan Justice Group, Gorran, KDP, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, and the New Generation Movement.
Read More: UNAMI head invites Kurdish parties for 'joint closed meeting'
"The meeting provided a timely opportunity for the parties to exchange views on various issues, including the need to move away from divisive politics and the way forward to credible and transparent elections," UNAMI said on Thursday.
Mala Bakhtiar, a member of the Senior Political and Interests Council of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), also told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday that UNAMI and the United States government support holding Kurdistan parliamentary elections on time.
Read More: UNAMI, US support holding Kurdistan elections on time: Mala Bakhtiar
"There is a hope that Kurdistan elections will be held on time," he said. "Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, has the message from the UN for us to hold the elections on time."
Also, the Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence, Nathalie Loiseau, who led a six-member EU parliament delegation to Baghdad and Erbil, told reporters on Thursday that the delegation hopes "that this election will take place in due time."