Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in February issued a decree setting the date for the region’s parliamentary election to October 1, 2022, however, the Kurdish political parties’ disagreement over the Region’s current commission and election laws have casted doubt on the likelihood of conducting the process on its scheduled time.
“Even if all the parties reach an agreement today, we don’t believe the electoral commission will be able to organize it [the election] on October 10,” Hemin Hawrami told reporters on Saturday, adding that it was “a great shame for all the political parties” if the elections were to be postponed.
Hawrami, who is also a politburo member of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), stated that the parties have engaged in talks, attended by representatives of the UN, in order to resolve their differences but have so far failed to reach an initial agreement.
During a briefing to the UN Security Council in May, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert called for equalising the Kurdistan Region's electoral playing field ahead of elections scheduled for October 1, focusing on solutions that represent the interests of all residents of the Region.
The ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), KDP’s main rival, and a number other Kurdish political blocs have claimed that the electoral regulations are outdated and in need of amendment prior to October’s vote, however, the KDP has opposed the suggestion and said that amending the laws requires an agreement of all the parliamentary blocs.
