ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masoud Barzani recalled the Kurds' struggle in shaping Iraq and the 2005 constitution and underscored the importance of minority representation as his party launched its electoral campaign in Erbil on Sunday.

The KDP's campaign launch comes ahead of Iraq’s parliamentary elections on November 11 and after a year chock-full of tensions between Erbil and Baghdad due to oil exports and the payment of the Kurdistan Region's civil servant salaries.

President Barzani urged the candidates to see themselves as the representatives of all Iraqis and to "protect anyone who is oppressed." He said there are a large number of Arab and Turkmen candidates on the KDP’s list and that their presence "bolsters" the party.

The KDP leader also stressed the importance of holding a "calm" and unproblematic campaign in the run-up to the voting, urging candidates to exercise restraint in the face of any violations of electoral guidelines.

Barzani took time to emphasize the salience of the Kurdish role in achieving the federal Iraqi state, highlighting its decentralized nature.

"We tried with all our might to create this Iraq," the former Kurdistan Region president said. "The constitution didn't meet all of our ambitions; however, it still provides many of our rights."

He recalled that after the 2005 Iraqi constitution was drafted, Baghdad and Erbil held several internationally mediated meetings in 2007 to draft an oil and gas law. The talks collapsed, he said, after the federal side claimed that “the Kurds cannot distinguish between oil and water.”

"Oil and gas belong to all the people of Iraq, in every province and region," Barzani said, adding, "the federal government will import gas and distribute it fairly among all the people of Iraq, especially those who were deprived of gas and oil under the previous regime."

Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through Turkey’s Ceyhan port resumed in late September under a new deal between Erbil, Baghdad, and international firms, ending a 30-month halt imposed after an arbitration ruling against Ankara in 2023.

The Iraqi government’s finance ministry in May decided to suspend funding the Kurdistan Region’s civil servant salaries, arguing that the Region had already exhausted its share of the annual budget. At the time of writing of this article, despite the reaching of an agreement between Erbil and Baghdad, public sector employees are yet to receive their dues for the months of August and September.

"Iraq is a federal country and not centralized," President Barzani asserted. “There needs to be a real democracy; the rights will be provided then."

Campaigning for the federal parliament began Friday with over 7,750 competing for the 329 seats allocated across the provinces under a proportional representation system.

Iraq’s last parliamentary elections in October 2021 saw a record low turnout amid widespread public frustration.