Parties demand federal probe into Kurdistan electoral fraud
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Three Kurdistan Region parties have called on the federal government to investigate allegations of fraud in the recent regional parliamentary elections.
Gorran, Komal, and New Generation submitted a letter to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior asking for an investigation into alleged counterfeit identity cards they claim were used by some parties to rig the election.
The three parties “have documented numerous fake identity cards and citizenship certificates that were used. We believe this is a big national felony related to national security,” Hoshyar Abdullah, Gorran member of the Iraqi parliament, said in a news conference in Baghdad on Tuesday.
The federal government must respond to this problem, he said, adding that his party and the other two were ready to cooperate with an investigation.
Voters went to the polls on September 30. The Kurdistan Region electoral commission released partial preliminary results on October 4, but investigations into more than 1,000 complaints have delayed finalization of the results.
“Many legal, constitutional, and executive violations were committed in Kurdistan’s parliamentary elections. Some of these violations were done through using the institutions of the federal government, notably the department of citizenship and other forms of identity cards,” Ahmadi Haji Rashid, head of Komal bloc in the Iraqi parliament, told reporters, arguing that this made it a federal matter.
A fourth party, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), has said they agree with their colleagues’ stance.
“Komal, Gorran, and New Generation Movement should have informed us so that we could take this step jointly. We were most affected by this problem in the election. Moreover, it is only the KIU representative [in the election commission] who has not signed the results of the election,” Muthana Amin, head of KIU faction in the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw.
“The interior minister should come to the parliament and explain this matter to the MPs,” he added.
The ruling KDP has taken a firm lead in the preliminary results. The PUK also garnered more seats than it had in the previous legislature, according to the early figures.
Gorran, Komal, and New Generation submitted a letter to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior asking for an investigation into alleged counterfeit identity cards they claim were used by some parties to rig the election.
The three parties “have documented numerous fake identity cards and citizenship certificates that were used. We believe this is a big national felony related to national security,” Hoshyar Abdullah, Gorran member of the Iraqi parliament, said in a news conference in Baghdad on Tuesday.
The federal government must respond to this problem, he said, adding that his party and the other two were ready to cooperate with an investigation.
Voters went to the polls on September 30. The Kurdistan Region electoral commission released partial preliminary results on October 4, but investigations into more than 1,000 complaints have delayed finalization of the results.
“Many legal, constitutional, and executive violations were committed in Kurdistan’s parliamentary elections. Some of these violations were done through using the institutions of the federal government, notably the department of citizenship and other forms of identity cards,” Ahmadi Haji Rashid, head of Komal bloc in the Iraqi parliament, told reporters, arguing that this made it a federal matter.
A fourth party, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), has said they agree with their colleagues’ stance.
“Komal, Gorran, and New Generation Movement should have informed us so that we could take this step jointly. We were most affected by this problem in the election. Moreover, it is only the KIU representative [in the election commission] who has not signed the results of the election,” Muthana Amin, head of KIU faction in the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw.
“The interior minister should come to the parliament and explain this matter to the MPs,” he added.
The ruling KDP has taken a firm lead in the preliminary results. The PUK also garnered more seats than it had in the previous legislature, according to the early figures.