Governor: Excluding Kirkuk from provincial council elections not acceptable

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Kirkuk Governor rejected the Iraqi government’s plans to exclude Kirkuk governorate from the next provincial elections in Iraq.

Najmadin Karim, governor of Kirkuk, held a press conference on Tuesday stating that excluding Kirkuk from the next provincial council elections is politically motivated and is not acceptable.

The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced on Monday the beginning of the process and procedures for holding the provincial council elections in Iraq, excluding Kirkuk governorate from elections for the third time since 2005.

“This is the third time that Kirkuk governorate is excluded from provincial council elections. Iraqi government does not want to hold elections in Kirkuk to prevent the city from gaining any form of powerful,” Karim added.

Even the majority of the current members of Kirkuk Provincial Council, who were elected in 2005, are in favor of holding the elections so people elect their representatives but the federal government refuses to listen to them.

Karim told the reporters that Kirkuk is not the only province that is ethnically diverse. It is not acceptable that people of Kirkuk are prevented from electing their representative.

Kirkuk Provincial Council was first held in 2005 where the Kurdistan Brotherhood consisting of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and other Kurdish parties in the governorate won the majority with 26 seats, Turkmens  won 9 seats and Sunni Arabs 6 seats.

On August 8, Kirkuk Governor stated that currently Kurdistan Region is the only source of revenue for Kirkuk province, stating that Iraq has been denying Kirkuk its allocated budget.

Editing by Ava Homa