Postponement of the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament Elections Becomes Inevitable
The Federal Court has decided to suspend the procedures related to the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament elections, following a lawsuit filed by the Prime Minister of the region
The Federal Court, the highest judicial authority in Iraq, issued an order today, Tuesday, to suspend the procedures of the Independent Electoral Commission regarding the elections of the Kurdistan Parliament scheduled for the tenth of this month, indicating that the postponement of the electoral event in the autonomous region has become inevitable.
The Court revealed in a statement that it “decided to suspend the implementation of the registration of candidate lists and their approval for the elections of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Parliament until the lawsuit is resolved, in order to avoid the consequences that would be difficult to rectify in the future”.
This decision follows a lawsuit filed by the Prime Minister of Kurdistan, Masrour Barzani, demanding the suspension of the Commission’s procedures regarding the regional elections.
Last week, Kurdish sites announced, citing political sources, that the Commission had suspended its work related to the elections for the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region, but the Commission denied this.
Disputes over the Kurdistan Parliament elections have escalated recently, amid political division between those calling for their postponement and others insisting on holding them on the scheduled date.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party, which holds the majority in the current Parliament, announced its boycott of the electoral process in protest against the Federal Court’s decision last February, which reduced the number of seats in the Region’s Parliament to 100, thus canceling the seats reserved for minorities under the “quota” system, and tasked the Independent Electoral Commission with overseeing the electoral event instead of the local authority.
Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, had previously stated that the Supreme Federal Court’s decision to cancel the quotas of components in the Region’s Parliament elections was a blow to partnership and coexistence, emphasizing the impossibility of holding the electoral event without the participation of all components, according to Kurdish sites.
In contrast, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the political rival of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, insists on holding the elections on their scheduled date without postponement, stating in a previous statement that it “will inform those concerned with the Kurdish political process, Iraq, the international community, and the United Nations of its keenness on democracy”, threatening to resort to the judiciary to defend the rights of the people.
Observers of the regional politics have questioned the possibility of holding the elections on June 10th, given the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s insistence on its position.
A source from the Kurdistan Democratic Party revealed in a statement to the Iraqi channel “Al-Thaminah” the existence of proposals to postpone the elections for the Kurdistan Region Parliament, ranging from three to six months, or to hold them simultaneously with the general elections in Iraq next year.
Last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, after meeting with the President of the Region, Nechirvan Barzani, emphasized the necessity of holding the Kurdistan Parliament elections “with the participation of all”.
The presidency of the region announced that “al-Sudani, after the visit of the president of the region Nechirvan Barzani to Baghdad, met with the electoral commission and emphasized the importance of holding the elections in Kurdistan within the framework of a political consensus and the participation of all components of Iraqi spectra in the region, and ensuring the achievement of the principle of justice and equality in implementing this obligation”.
