ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The results of last month’s parliamentary elections in Iraq have transformed the political scene in multi-ethnic Kirkuk province: The Arabs lost two seats, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) doubled its single seat, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) added two seats, to total six.
The Arabs and the Turkmens of Kirkuk ran in the 2010 elections on a joint list and won six seats. This time, they accuse the KDP of stealing their votes.
Abdulrahman Munshid Asi, leader of the Arab Coalition in Kirkuk and head of the Arab Political Council in Kirkuk, accused the KDP of “theft and cheating” in the April 30 elections.
“The PUK did not want KDP to get a seat at its expense, so it assisted the KDP to steal two seats from the Arabs in Kirkuk. This happened at a time when most of the Kurdish votes go to the PUK and the Change Movement (Gorran),” said Asi.
He said that 24 Arab candidates have filed complaints against the election results in Kirkuk.
“We have a lot of evidence showing that a large number of Arab ballots were disqualified,” he said. “This is in addition to disqualifying 75 boxes containing Arab ballots in the towns of Riyad and Rashad in Kirkuk by the Electoral Commission, without any legal explanations. The Arabs were expected to get at least 4 seats as in the previous elections.”
After receiving several complaints about the results in Arab areas of Kirkuk, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) sent a committee from Baghdad to investigate the allegations of fraud and cancellation of Arab ballots.
According to Asi, the committee has stated in its report that, “The boxes containing the Arab ballots have been intentionally manipulated in Kirkuk in order to be disqualified.”
Despite the appeals against the election results in Kirkuk, Asi does not expect justice to take place: “Because we are living in Iraq, and in Iraq, right will never win.”
According to election data, around 90,500 Arab ballots were disqualified in southern and western Kirkuk. The disqualified ballots were enough to win two seats in the Iraqi parliament.
Adnan Kirkuki, head of the election commission in the KDP Leadership Council in Kirkuk and Garmiyani, said that Asi’s allegations were “surprising.”
“According to all the measures and the elections monitors in Kirkuk, no group has taken the seats from another group,” he said. “The KDP, for example, won only eight votes in the Arab town of Hawija and the PUK won 38. These votes have no impact when compared to the votes of Kirkuk.”
Bokan Abdullah, head of the PUK election commission, likewise rejected Asi’s allegations.
“The PUK has not done this, and cannot help the KDP steal seats from another group,” he said. “The PUK received votes from some Arabs and Turkmens as well, but it is not the time to count those votes.”
He added that, “Compared to the Iraqi parliamentary elections of 2010, the Arab ballots have not decreased this time. But the reason why they lost two seats is due to the division among the Arab groups and lists in Kirkuk.”
