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KirkukNow- Kirkuk
Fifteen Kurdish political parties have been engaged in talks on forming a joint list for the upcoming provincial elections in the province; in the meantime, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) says they have filed complaints in regard to some amendments in the provincial elections law, rejecting participation in the process.
Representatives of the Kurdish parties met on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Islamic Group to discuss the formation of the list and to achieve unity ahead of the elections.
At a press conference attended by KirkukNow, Mahmoud Jalil, head of the Islamic Group’s Relations Bureau said, “All agreed to take part in the provincial elections with a joint list including the KDP whom we got their position via a phone call.”
The provincial elections across Iraq, including Kirkuk, are planned for April 1, 2020.
The KDP which did not vote for the amended elections law due to some remarks and reservation concerning the situation in Kirkuk and some measures that are exclusively put for the process in the province, refused to participate in Wednesday’s meeting.
Khasraw Goran, head of the KDP’s elections office, speaking to his party’s official media said they have filed a complaint with the Iraqi federal court. He denied that his party has designated candidates for the upcoming elections.
A set of conditions and measures have been laid down for the process in Kirkuk, including a clean-up of voter rolls.
The only option for Kurds in Kirkuk is unity
Rebwar Taha, an Iraqi MP from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) fraction along with two other members of his party participated at the meeting.
“15 political parties and groups agreed to take part in the elections with a united list, because the only option for Kurds in this province is unity,” he told the press conference.
“As Kurdish MPs we also had our reservations regarding the amended election law but the law was approved by a majority of non-Kurd MPs.”
The amendments were approved in a parliament session last July following months of deliberations.
Rebwar Taha said all Kurdish political parties have “the same position regarding the need to reverse the situation in Kirkuk.”
The last provincial elections in Iraq were held in 2013, except in Kirkuk where disputes among the province’s diverse components, including voter rolls and the normalization of the situation in the province have delayed the process since 2005.
