“Ongoing political infighting in KRI is very disturbing. Once again, we call on all parties to work in the interest of all peoples and find common ground on outstanding electoral issues soonest. Timely, credible elections are a democratic essential,” Hennis-Plasschaert was quoted by UNAMI in a tweet late Wednesday.
Kurdistan parliament on Monday convened to discuss several issues, including the reactivation of the Independent High Electoral and Referendum Commission. Speaker Rewaz Fayaq decided to postpone the session but her deputy Hemin Hawrami decided to continue the meeting. Fayaq and Hawrami are senior members of PUK and KDP respectively.
The KDP claims that 58 out of 111 parliamentarians voted to reactivate the commission but its rival party argues that the body was not activated because the session had been postponed when the voting took place.
A decree, signed by Hawrami and published by the Region’s official gazette on Tuesday, reads that the commission has been reactivated but the PUK’s parliamentary bloc said on Wednesday that the ruling is “a partisan one,” adding that they would not abide by it.
KDP and PUK have had rocky relations in recent years which were escalated by the assissination of a top PUK commander in Erbil, arguments on the alleged unfair distribution of the Region’s revenue over provinces and discussions on how the upcoming elections should be held.
The controversy around the commission's reactivation came days after PUK’s team in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) returned to the weekly cabinet meetings following some six months of boycott over financial disagreements.
KDP and PUK officials say that they have agreed on all key issues regarding the elections, except for the distribution of minority seats over provinces. The Kurdistan Parliament consists of 111 seats, with 11 of them dedicated to minorities under a quota system. Some political parties have claimed that these seats are exploited by the KDP, which is accused of directing security forces to vote for the minority candidates it favours. The KDP has denied the claims.
Samir F. Ghattas, UNAMI spokesperson, told Rudaw’s Bizhar Zubair hours before Hennis-Plasschaert’s statement that “Upon request of the KDP and PUK, UNAMI consulted minorities on their preferred option.”
“Additionally, and to bridge differences, UNAMI discussed other options for minority representation in the KR Parliament which parties could consider. Regrettably, no progress has been made,” he added,
The spokesperson also said that the Kurdistan Region’s political parties and authorities are responsible for which system to adopt during the general elections which are scheduled for November 18 - a year late.
Handren Mohammed, the head of the commission and a KDP member, told Rudaw on Tuesday that they have been officially informed of their reactivation, adding that they could immediately start preparations for the elections.
Briefing the UN Security Council on May 18 about the latest developments in Iraq, Hennis-Plasschaert, who is also the UN Special Representative for Iraq, warned that any further postponement of the elections in the Region could be “detrimental to public trust.”
Despite working together in the KRG, the two governing parties have established control over different parts of the Region, often referred to as the “Yellow Zone,” Erbil and Duhok provinces where the KDP dominates, and the “Green Zone,” Sulaimani and Halabja provinces where the PUK rules.
Iraq’s supreme court on Wednesday once again postponed the announcement of its final decision regarding a lawsuit filed by the Kurdistan Region’s New Generation party against the extension of the age of the Region’s government and parliament for one year last year. The session is set for May 30.
Ali Bapir, leader of the Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal), an opposition party, on Tuesday warned against any developments that could put the status of the Region at risk, saying people own the parliament not the political parties.
Other political parties have refrained from commenting on the controversial reactivation of the electoral commission due to the sensitivity of the issue.
