Kurdistan Region electoral commission reactivated, announced KDP MPs

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s electoral commission has been reactivated by the majority of members of parliament, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) parliamentary bloc, announced.

Fifty-eight of 111 members of parliament, including representatives of the ethnic and religious components, voted to reactivate the commission responsible for organizing the upcoming elections, Zana Mala Khalid, the head of the KDP parliamentary bloc, said in a presser following the session.

Monday's parliamentary decision is expected to pave the way for holding elections later this year.

Monday’s session was plagued by fierce tensions between the KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) MPs, who sought to postpone the legislative gathering to an unspecified date.

Speaker Rewaz Fayaq (PUK) announced the cancellation of the meeting initially but was reversed by her deputy Hemin Hawrami and Secretary Munah Kahveci, who continued the session in Fayaq’s absence.

The PUK MPs described the session as a “violation” of parliamentary rules of procedures, arguing the Speaker had already postponed the session. 

Deputy Speaker Hemin Hawrami refused the claim, arguing the session was in line with internal rules.

The Parliament has officially sent the decision to the Council of Shura and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to undertake further measures to reactive the electoral commission, Hemin said.

The decision comes as the KDP and PUK on Sunday met in Erbil and discussed holding the elections “on time”, set for Nov. 18, 2023.

The Change Movement members abstained from the vote, calling for “consensus” among all parties before the activation of the commission and amending the election together.

The disagreement of political parties last year on amending the election law postponed the sixth parliamentary polls by a year.