Imad Jamil, the head of the Iraq’s Independent Electoral High Commission’s (IHEC) media team, told Rudaw on Wednesday that “we have sent a letter to the Kurdistan Region Presidency to inform them that we cannot hold Kurdistan parliamentary elections on February 25.”
He did not elaborate why they cannot hold the vote.
The poll was initially scheduled for October 2022, but was pushed to November of the same year due to disagreements among the political parties over the election law.
After an Iraqi court ruling against the self-extension of the Kurdistan parliament as a result of the delayed elections, the poll was postponed to February 2024, this time under the supervision of the Iraqi electoral commission.
Dawoud Salman, the head of IHEC’s measures and training department, told Rudaw on last week that “there is an issue with the commission’s timetable pertaining to supervising Kurdistan’s parliamentary elections,” adding that once the commission reveals the final results of the latest local poll in Iraq, it will meet again to make changes to the timetable for the Kurdish vote.
The results of the Iraqi provincial polls were revealed on Thursday.
The Kurdistan Region Presidency has yet to comment on the letter Jamil said was sent from the IHEC.
The Presidency has repeatedly emphasized its efforts to hold the polls on time.
There have been contradictory comments from the IHEC regarding the commission’s ability to hold the vote on time.
Al-Hassan Qabas, a member of the IHEC’s media team, told Rudaw last month that they had already begun preparations for the Kurdish region’s elections, adding that unexpected development will not affect their plan for the vote.
