Six Iranian Kurdish parties unite to boycott Iran’s Presidential election

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Six Kurdish opposition parties in Iran on Thursday jointly decided to boycott the upcoming Presidential election in the country, claiming it was an unjust election.

The six Iranian Kurdish parties included the Society of Revolutionary Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan, Komala Kurdistan’s Organization of the Communist Party of Iran, Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), Kurdistan Toilers’ Party, and the Organization of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle.

“Our opinions were very close to each other. I can say they were almost the same,” said Ibrahim Alizadeh, the Secretary-General of Komala Kurdistan’s Organization of the Communist Party of Iran, in a joint press conference.

“We were all in agreement this so-called election is happening in a very undemocratic condition,” he continued. “We can in no way call it a free election.”

Alizadeh called on the Kurdish people of Iran to boycott the Iranian Presidential election planned to be held on May 19, 2017.

Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhilat) complain the government continuously ignores the Kurdish-populated areas in the northwest of the country.

They also pointed to the rate of unemployment which remains considerably high compared to other provinces in Iran.

Additionally, Iran plans to hold the 2017 Municipal elections on the same day as the Presidential one.

Ismael Sharafi, a member of the Iranian KDP, said the Kurdish parties would have a separate meeting regarding those elections because it was directly related to the Kurdish-populated areas.

According to unofficial statistics, there are about 7-10 million Kurds in Iran, mostly in Rojhilat.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany