ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region’s already delayed parliamentary elections could be postponed again due to an issue with the electoral commission’s timetable, a senior official from the body said on Wednesday. Dawoud Salman, the head of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission’s (IHEC) measures and training department, told Rudaw on Wednesday 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 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. The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court has postponed its ruling on a case regarding the minority quota seats in the Kurdish legislature several times. Last time it was postponed to January 21. Salman said that the federal court’s ruling will affect their timetable. The Iraqi government earlier this month allocated nearly 70 billion dinars for the IHEC to supervise the Kurdistan Region’ poll, clearing another hurdle for the controversial vote to take place. 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 earlier this 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.
