Kurdistan
Luqman Wardi, a PUK MP, talking to reporters in Erbil on May 3, 2023. Photo: Screengrab/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) member of parliament on Wednesday rejected claims by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of stalling the electoral process, asking them to cooperate instead of throwing accusations.
“The Kurdistan Parliament’s electoral law is full of flaws, it does not match the social and political democratic progress, and that’s why it’s everyone’s wish to replace the current law,” Luqman Wardi, a PUK MP, told reporters in a press conference.
On Tuesday, Peshawa Hawramani, the spokesperson of the KDP parliamentary bloc accused the PUK and other parties of stalling and delaying elections. Hawramani presented a document showcasing 18 KDP initiatives that were not met with satisfactory PUK responses.
Wardi responded by saying that on November 3, 2021, the PUK asked the KDP to cooperate to amend the electoral law before the end of the parliament’s term, adding “it was faced by an outright refusal from KDP”.
Kurdistan Region’s parliamentarians voted in October last year to extend the term of the parliament by another year due to a disagreement between the parties over the electoral law and the electoral commission.
The PUK MP added that eight rounds of meetings were held with the KDP and the Speaker of the Parliament, Rewaz Fayaq, to amend the electoral law in a way that he claims would have ensured a fair election, Wardi said these meetings are all recorded in the parliament’s archive.
Wardi said the KDP’s refusal of cooperation encouraged the PUK to cooperate with other parties to prepare an amendment to the election law. According to him, the KDP was asked to present their observations and demands within that law and cooperate with the PUK and other parties.
“In response, the head of the KDP bloc threatened to use the parliamentary majority using the 11 minorities’ quota seats,” he claimed.
PUK parliamentary bloc spokesperson, Ziyad Jabar, told Rudaw on Wednesday that progress towards a solution to the PUK-KDP issues has reached a dead end.“We became hopeless of a fair electoral law, and we reached the end of the road with KDP,” he said.
“If KDP has the will, I assure everyone that the parliamentary elections will take place on time,” Jabar added.
The Kurdistan Parliament consists of 111 seats, with 11 of them dedicated to minorities under a quota system. Turkmens have five seats, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syriacs have five, and Armenians have one. Some political parties have claimed that these seats are exploited by the KDP, which is accused of directing security forces to vote for the minority candidates it favours. The KDP has denied the claims.
Wardi says PUK, along with other political parties think that the minorities’ quota should be distributed among the electoral circles according to their own size.
“Had KDP cooperated with us on November 3, 2021, the sixth term of the Kurdistan parliament would have been active now,” said Wardi.
The KDP and PUK have an uneasy relationship. Despite working together in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), they have established control over separate parts of the Region, often referred to as the “Yellow Zone” in Erbil and Duhok where KDP dominates, and the “Green Zone“ where PUK controls Sulaimani and Halabja.
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