Just under 1,200 candidates will be running for the hundred seats in the Kurdistan Regional parliament as elections are scheduled for October, the Iraqi electoral commission said on Tuesday.

“There are 1,197 candidates who are competing as part of electoral lists, coalitions, or as independent or quota candidates to gain the 100 seats in the parliament,” spokesperson to the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) Jumana al-Ghalayi told The New Region on Tuesday. 

According to Ghalayi, the candidates are distributed among two coalitions, 13 political parties, and 124 independent candidates.

This comes as only three days are left for the IHEC to validate the candidates and send them over to the interior ministry and the integrity commission for final approval.

The Kurdistan Region is set to hold parliamentary elections, after several delays, on October 20.

The elections, originally scheduled for June 10, 2024, were canceled after the Region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) announced its withdrawal. They demanded changes to the allocation of quota seats and constituency seats. 
 
Earlier this year, the Electoral Commission issued Law No. 7 of 2024 regarding the registration and approval of candidate lists for the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
 
Article 2 of the law divided the Kurdistan Region into four electoral districts and specified the parliament's seat count at 100 only, nullifying the 11 seats allocated for minority quotas.

The party eventually registered to participate after some of their demands were met, including the return of five quota seats.
 
The return of the five seats came in response to a complaint from a Christian party in the Kurdistan Region.