President Barzani to set election date before May: Advisor

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani will set the date of the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in the Region before May, a senior presidential advisor said on Tuesday. 

The Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections were supposed to be held last year, but members of the legislature voted in October by a majority to extend the parliament's four-year term by another year, after disagreements between the blocs over the current electoral law and the electoral commission prevented new elections from being carried out.

Dilshad Shahab, senior advisor to President Barzani, told Rudaw’s Nwenar Fatih that the presidency will “definitely” not wait for the governing parties - Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) - to resolve their differences over the elections, adding that Barzani will set a date for the vote before May.

The inability of the Kurdistan Region to hold elections is largely attributed to contentions and ongoing wrangling between the KDP and PUK - who have often found themselves entangled in a clash of words over the elections law, as the Sulaimani-based PUK has said it would support new polls once the electoral law has been amended.

Shahab said that the current parliament expires on December 31 and the most suitable period for the elections is between mid-October and mid-November, adding that the Region has no option other than holding the elections as the delay is already harming the reputation of the Region.  

Meetings between KDP and PUK have resumed recently to resolve their issues. The top advisor said that both parties are expected to meet again on Wednesday. 

Both parties met on an electoral body level in Erbil last week, with both parties announcing in a joint statement that they reached a “mutual understanding” on “majority” of points related to how the upcoming elections should be held.

Rudaw understands that both parties have agreed on the method of the election as well as coordinating with Iraq’s electoral commission to benefit from their voter list of the Kurdistan Region.

The PUK has even boycotted the weekly meetings of the Council of Ministers as a protest expressing the party’s concerns with the government. 

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani Monday said that his cabinet had asked the ministerial team of the PUK to return to meetings several times.  

The KRG authorities have come under mounting criticism domestically and on an international level for failing to hold elections.

The rival sides of the Kurdistan Region must act “quickly and pragmatically” towards resolving their differences, as their divisions have “adverse effects” on the people and institutions of the Kurdistan Region, Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said while briefing the United Nations Security Council on the latest developments in the situation concerning Iraq last month.