50 coalitions formed for upcoming Iraqi provincial council elections: IHEC

63 other political parties have not yet completed their registration, the IHEC statement added.

Kurdistan 24 2023/08/12 20:32

Iraq held parliamentary elections on Oct. 10, 2021. (Photo: Archive)

Kurdistan IHEC Iraqi provincial council elections political coalitions

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced on Saturday that 198 political parties have formed 50 coalitions for the upcoming Iraqi provincial council elections.

63 other political parties have not yet completed their registration, the IHEC statement added.

Meanwhile, Emad Jamil, head of the media office of the IHEC, said that on Sunday, the commission will meet to make a final decision on the extension of the coalition registrations.

Also, the IHEC revealed that the National Coalition, National Azm Coalition, National Alnahj Alliance, Presidential Coalition, and al-Madar Coalition will have ballots in all provinces except Basra Province.

The largest coalitions are the State of Law Coalition with 12 political parties, the Civil Democratic Alliance with 10 political parties, the National Azm Coalition with 9 political parties, the Civil Forces Coalition with 9 political parties, and the Iraqi Turkmen Coalition with 9 political parties.

Moreover, Baghdad has the highest number of coalitions with 18, followed by Anbar with 17, and Basra, Nineveh, and Kirkuk with 16 each.

The Iraqi provincial council elections are scheduled for Dec. 18, 2023.

Roughly 23.4 million people are eligible to vote in the 15 provincial council elections, including Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces. The IHEC is preparing to open 7,080 polling stations.

Previously in July, the IHEC stated that over 95,000 voters have thus far registered to vote in December.

In 2019, the Iraqi parliament decided to dissolve its provincial councils while only restarting the process recently. In addition, the Iraqi parliament decided to allow governors to manage financial and administrative affairs until provincial councils are elected.