EU calls for swift formation of new Kurdish government
“The holding of these elections is important as it offered the [Kurdistan] Region’s voters a crucial opportunity to exercise their democratic rights.”
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A spokesperson for the European Union’s external action service on Monday called on the people of the Kurdistan Region to form a swift new government following the parliamentary elections a day earlier.
“The people of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq yesterday voted in elections for the Region’s Parliament, following the postponement of the elections from their initial November 2017 date,” the EU spokesperson said in a statement.
The Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary election kicked off on Sunday morning for over three million voters, the first regional elections since the defeat of the Islamic State (IS).
“The holding of these elections is important as it offered the Region’s voters a crucial opportunity to exercise their democratic rights,” the statement added.
The EU spokesperson noted it was “positive that first reports confirm a peaceful and orderly ballot.”
“Vote counting should now be completed speedily and transparently, the results should be accepted by all parties and any claims of irregularities addressed through the available procedures, leading to the swift constitution of a new Parliament and Government,” the spokesperson said.
“The European Union will remain a strong partner and supporter of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, and looks forward to working with the new Government of the Kurdistan Region.”
Hoshyar Zebari, a senior member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), also praised the peaceful election process.
The “people of Kurdistan Region in Iraq should feel proud for conducting a peaceful, fair and orderly electoral process yesterday 30 Sep 2018,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
Despite this, two of the Kurdistan Region’s main opposition parties, the New Generation and the Change List, have already questioned the validity of the election process.
The New Generation party on Monday said it would boycott the parliament over alleged fraud by the ruling parties, the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Moreover, the Gorran party said it would reject the results of the parliamentary elections if fraudulent ballots were not canceled.
So far, official election results have not been released.
The Kurdistan Region’s election comes almost five months after the parliamentary vote across Iraq on May 12.
It is also the first regional elections in Kurdistan since IS’ defeat last December.
Following the emergence of the extremist group in 2014, Kurdish Peshmerga forces were heavily invested in defeating IS and liberating areas the militants controlled.
Over 1,800 Peshmerga and Kurdish security members gave their lives, and about 12,000 more were wounded, according to statistics from the Peshmerga Ministry.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany