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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Italy’s Consul General to Erbil Michele Camerota said on Monday that Rome encourages the holding of the Kurdistan Region’s long-overdue parliamentary elections as soon as possible.
“Italy’s position is the same as other like-minded countries. Elections is an important part of democracy, [it] is an important pillar of democracy … we can only encourage to hold elections as soon as possible, for the sake of the region and the people of Kurdistan,” Camerota told Rudaw.
The elections, initially scheduled for two years ago, were last set for June 10 but the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) stated that it cannot supervise the process on this date, officially requesting a new date. The commission has suggested September 5 but the Kurdish authorities have yet to finalize the date.
The Region’s strongest political party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), had boycotted the process citing concerns over the election mechanism. However, a senior KDP official said earlier this month that it will take part in the polls if the recent changes to the mechanism of the vote are implemented.
The KDP on Sunday informed Iraq’s electoral commission of its willingness to participate in the upcoming Kurdistan parliamentary elections after numerous changes were made to the vote mechanism, including a Baghdad decision to allocate five seats for minorities across the Kurdistan Region’s three provinces - a crucial KDP demand - months after an Iraqi top court stripped the minorities of their quota seats of the legislature.
On Thursday, IHEC announced it had reopened the door for political parties to register for the vote, allowing the KDP, as well most Christian and Turkmen parties who had also boycotted the vote, to register for the elections.
“Italy’s position is the same as other like-minded countries. Elections is an important part of democracy, [it] is an important pillar of democracy … we can only encourage to hold elections as soon as possible, for the sake of the region and the people of Kurdistan,” Camerota told Rudaw.
The elections, initially scheduled for two years ago, were last set for June 10 but the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) stated that it cannot supervise the process on this date, officially requesting a new date. The commission has suggested September 5 but the Kurdish authorities have yet to finalize the date.
The Region’s strongest political party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), had boycotted the process citing concerns over the election mechanism. However, a senior KDP official said earlier this month that it will take part in the polls if the recent changes to the mechanism of the vote are implemented.
The KDP on Sunday informed Iraq’s electoral commission of its willingness to participate in the upcoming Kurdistan parliamentary elections after numerous changes were made to the vote mechanism, including a Baghdad decision to allocate five seats for minorities across the Kurdistan Region’s three provinces - a crucial KDP demand - months after an Iraqi top court stripped the minorities of their quota seats of the legislature.
On Thursday, IHEC announced it had reopened the door for political parties to register for the vote, allowing the KDP, as well most Christian and Turkmen parties who had also boycotted the vote, to register for the elections.
Peshawa Bakhtyar contributed to this report.
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