ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Monday said that Washington encourages the holding of free and fair elections in the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Region will hold parliamentary elections on June 10, two years after the original date they were scheduled for. The elections were postponed several times due to disputes between political parties and legal causes.
“So we understand the IKR president and various Iraqi authorities and political parties are actively considering next steps. We encourage efforts to schedule free, fair and credible elections in the IKR,” Miller told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda during a press briefing on Monday.
Midnight on Sunday was the deadline for political parties to submit their candidates lists to Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) which is overseeing the process.
Most political parties submitted their candidate lists, excluding the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which earlier this month announced it was boycotting the vote in protest over a federal court ruling that eliminated minority quota seats and imposed a four-constituency system.
The party’s politburo said that the court ruling came as a continuation of the latter’s “unconstitutional rulings against the Kurdistan Region in the past four years” and called it an attempt to “return Iraq to a centralized system.”
The KDP is the largest Kurdish party and the dominant force in both Erbil and Duhok provinces. Its withdrawal from the election has led many pundits to speculate that the vote may not be held as scheduled in June.
International allies and observers have warned against postponing the elections. On Saturday, United States Ambassador Alina Romanowski met with KDP leader Masoud Barzani and top KRG officials to discuss the vote.
The Kurdistan Region will hold parliamentary elections on June 10, two years after the original date they were scheduled for. The elections were postponed several times due to disputes between political parties and legal causes.
“So we understand the IKR president and various Iraqi authorities and political parties are actively considering next steps. We encourage efforts to schedule free, fair and credible elections in the IKR,” Miller told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda during a press briefing on Monday.
Midnight on Sunday was the deadline for political parties to submit their candidates lists to Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) which is overseeing the process.
Most political parties submitted their candidate lists, excluding the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which earlier this month announced it was boycotting the vote in protest over a federal court ruling that eliminated minority quota seats and imposed a four-constituency system.
The party’s politburo said that the court ruling came as a continuation of the latter’s “unconstitutional rulings against the Kurdistan Region in the past four years” and called it an attempt to “return Iraq to a centralized system.”
The KDP is the largest Kurdish party and the dominant force in both Erbil and Duhok provinces. Its withdrawal from the election has led many pundits to speculate that the vote may not be held as scheduled in June.
International allies and observers have warned against postponing the elections. On Saturday, United States Ambassador Alina Romanowski met with KDP leader Masoud Barzani and top KRG officials to discuss the vote.
Hours after Miller's comment, the KDP spokesperson said in a statement that the party is determined to boycott the elections unless its demands are met.
Updated at 11:06 pm
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment