ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq—The Iraqi electoral commission on Wednesday announced the final results of the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections. The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) emerged a clear victor with 39 seats, 16 seats more than what the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) gained, which secured the second place.
The third place went to the New Generation with 15 seats, followed by the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) with seven seats, the Halwest (Stance) Movement with four seats, the Kurdistan Justice Group with three seats, the People’s Front with two seats, the Change Movement (Gorran) and the Kurdistan Coalition each grabbed one seat.
The KDP gained a total of 812,794 votes, followed by the PUK's 409,548, and the New Generation's 292,032.
The vote saw a 72 percent turnout, according to the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC).
The political parties, candidates, and coalitions will have three days from October 31 to November 3 to appeal the results, according to the IHEC.
The judicial board of the commission will have to make a final decision on the appeals within ten working days.
The electoral commission will announce the results of the appeals after the judicial boards decide on them.
As soon as the final results are sealed, the Kurdistan Region presidency will have ten days to approve the winning candidates and call for a first session of the newly-elected parliament, to be presided over by the oldest parliamentarian.
The New Generation's Mohammed Sulaiman from the Sulaimani constituency will preside over the first parliament session, as the oldest MP.
The KDP has already begun preparations towards establishing the tenth cabinet under its leadership.
As the party’s initial step, they will visit the political parties, according to a decision by the KDP Central Committee earlier this week.
“The KDP does not have a veto against any sides or individuals,” according to a readout of the KDP Central Committee’s meeting, adding what matters to the KDP the most is “the formation of an inclusive government.”
After two years of delay and four times of rescheduling, the Kurdistan Region held its long-delayed parliamentary elections on October 20. Of 2,683,618 eligible voters, 2,087,972 cast their ballots.
Soon after the preliminary results had been announced, some of the political parties and independent candidates claimed there was electoral fraud in the process, deciding to lodge complaints against the entire process at the Iraqi federal court in Baghdad.
Komal officially on Saturday announced they were boycotting the parliament, nor would they join the next government.
Other parties including Halwest, the People’s Front, and The Change Movement have also rejected the results.
The KIU, however, has not had any objection to the results but already announced they would not join the government.
The international community has urged the winning political parties of the Kurdistan Region to swiftly form the government.
“We urge political parties and civil society to support a peaceful transition and formation of a government without delay,” the US State Department told The New Region last week.
Telegram
