Kurdish Parties Divided Over Fighting Iraqi Elections as Single Bloc

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - As Kurdish political parties prepare for the Iraqi parliamentary elections in late April next year, some senior officials from the Kurdish opposition have expressed skepticism about joining a united Kurdish bloc in the disputed territories.

Some of the larger opposition parties say they do not back such a move because of bad experience in the past with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

“The KDP and PUK committed many frauds in the previous provincial elections in Mosul and Diyala,” charged Aram Muhammad, the head of the Change Movement’s (Gorran) election office. “We have learned from our experience not to repeat the same mistake.”

A senior official from the Kurdistan Islamic Union echoed Muhammad’s concerns about KDP and PUK’s wrong approaches in Nineveh and Diyala. “We cannot trust them because they only seek their own interests,” said Muhammad Ahmad, former head of the Islamic Union’s faction in the Iraqi parliament.

However, Abdulstar Majid, a member of the Islamic League’s (Komal) political bureau, said that his party supports a united Kurdish bloc in the disputed territories, especially in Kirkuk. “In order not to waste the Kurdish votes in the disputed territories, the Kurdish political parties must form a coalition to participate in the upcoming parliamentary election in those areas,” he urged.

Under the electoral law, each province is allocated a number of parliamentary seats, based on population. This law, which is to be implemented in the upcoming election, grants three extra seats to the three Kurdish provinces, increasing the total number of Kurdish seats to 44.

Najib Abdulla, the current head of the Islamic Union’s faction in the Iraqi parliament, believes the new method of distribution could grant up to seven more seats to the Kurds seats in the April election.

Abdulla called on the Kurdish political parties to take advantage of the law. “The Kurdish political parties should carefully study the number of Kurds in each Iraqi province, especially in Kirkuk,” he added.

The Islamic Union’s Ahmad presumes that the extra seats could favor his party in the April election. “The Islamic Union is currently working on appointing its candidates for the next election,” he said.

In the 2010 election, the Kurdish bloc won 15 parliamentary seats in the disputed territories.

Abdulla believes that number could increase to 20 seats if the Kurdish political parties participate in the upcoming election as a single bloc. 

With the new distribution method, the Kurds will be able to increase their presence from 18 to 20 percent in Iraq’s next National Assembly.

Gorran, which currently has eight places in the Iraqi parliament, also hopes to benefit from the new distribution. “All the statistics show that Gorran will win more seats in the upcoming election,” Muhammad claimed.

Aram told Rudaw that his party would soon discuss nominating its candidates for the election.

Majid also discussed the nomination process with his party. “The party’s branches in each province are responsible for selecting its candidates in the respective province,” he explained.

When asked whether the Kurdish parties are willing to form a coalition in the disputed territories Khasraw Goran, the head of the KDP’s election bureau, said that the KDP will begin discussing the initiative with the other parties next month.

He said that, at this point, it is unclear whether the Kurdish parties support a coalition in the disputed territories.