'Holding Kurdistan elections on time has become impossible': KDP official
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Hold the Kurdistan Region's parliamentary elections on Oct. 1 as planned or even before the end of 2022 has become impossible, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) elections bureau, Khasraw Goran, told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday.
"The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has had discussions with the election's bureaus of the political parties, and it had separate meetings with senior leaders of the political parties to solve the disputes and hold elections on time," said Goran.
He revealed that "despite UNAMI's efforts with all of these meetings and the one-on-one KDP and PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) meetings, so far, no agreement has been reached by the political parties."
"Holding the elections depends on the agreement of the political parties," he said. "We don't have a constitution. That's the main reason for not having elections on time."
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Goran pointed out that while other political parties call for holding the elections with multi-constituencies, the KDP supports a one-constituency election for the Kurdistan Region and Iraq's elections.
"Holding elections with one constituency strengthens the political entity of the region," he said. "However, the KDP doesn't fear holding elections with multi-constituencies, and the Iraqi elections is the best example of how the KDP did well despite the elections being held with multi-constituencies."
Goran charged that "some political parties want to delay the elections and their demands for multi-constituencies elections are just an excuse to delay the elections further because they are not ready for the election now."
"It is not good for the reputation of Kurdistan Region to delay the elections," he said. "The KDP is a leading and ruling party, and it has big responsibilities, which is the reason why it wants to hold the elections on time."
"Other smaller political parties also support holding the elections on time, including the socialist party, the communist party, the workers and toilers party, and the political parties of the minorities," he added.
Goran revealed that "the number of the quota seats of the minorities will remain the same and that for the minorities it will remain a one-constituency election, through which the minority communities can vote for their candidates from everywhere in Kurdistan Region."
The current election law rules that the Kurdistan Region is one election constituency, in which all the people in the Kurdistan Region can vote for any candidate anywhere in the region.
The current parliamentary term ends on Nov. 6. Elections must be held before that date. The Kurdistan Region President recently decreed that the next elections must be held on Oct. 1.
The Kurdistan Region's Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission (IHERC) mandate expired on Dec. 20, 2019. To renew its mandate, Kurdish lawmakers need to pass a new law.