ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - No political party has submitted their list of candidates for the Kurdistan Region’s upcoming elections, announced an official from Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), warning that the deadline will not be postponed.
IHEC, which is holding Kurdistan Region’s June 10 parliamentary polls, said in a statement on Monday that Thursday is the deadline for the political parties to submit the names of their candidates to the commission.
Imad Jamil, the head of the electoral body’s media team, told Rudaw that “no political party or coalition has submitted their list of candidates to the commission,” expecting them to do so on Wednesday or Thursday.
“The deadline will not be postponed again because it will affect the timetable,” he warned.
Kurdistan Region’s general elections were originally slated for October 2022 but have been postponed several times because of disputes between political parties and federal court rulings.
Many political parties and alliances have registered for the elections.
In an unprecedented and surprising move, Kurdistan Region’s largest and oldest political entity, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) last week announced it would not take part in the long-overdue and contentious election.
The party’s politburo said that the court ruling was a continuation of its “unconstitutional rulings against the Kurdistan Region in the past four years” and called it an attempt to “return Iraq to a centralized system.”
This development has made many pundits speculate that the elections could not be held on time as the KDP is the largest Kurdish party and the dominant force in Erbil and Duhok provinces.
IHEC, which is holding Kurdistan Region’s June 10 parliamentary polls, said in a statement on Monday that Thursday is the deadline for the political parties to submit the names of their candidates to the commission.
Imad Jamil, the head of the electoral body’s media team, told Rudaw that “no political party or coalition has submitted their list of candidates to the commission,” expecting them to do so on Wednesday or Thursday.
“The deadline will not be postponed again because it will affect the timetable,” he warned.
Kurdistan Region’s general elections were originally slated for October 2022 but have been postponed several times because of disputes between political parties and federal court rulings.
Many political parties and alliances have registered for the elections.
In an unprecedented and surprising move, Kurdistan Region’s largest and oldest political entity, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) last week announced it would not take part in the long-overdue and contentious election.
The party’s politburo said that the court ruling was a continuation of its “unconstitutional rulings against the Kurdistan Region in the past four years” and called it an attempt to “return Iraq to a centralized system.”
This development has made many pundits speculate that the elections could not be held on time as the KDP is the largest Kurdish party and the dominant force in Erbil and Duhok provinces.
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