President Barzani, Kurdish political parties to meet 'next week'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish political parties are set to meet again next week at the Kurdistan Region Presidency to discuss the Region’s next parliamentary elections, the deputy speaker of the Kurdish parliament said on Sunday.

Hemin Hawrami said that the parties will discuss their perspectives on the situation in the Kurdistan Region and its next parliamentary elections, the current parliament’s due date, and the Region’s constitution.

“We reiterate that we are waiting on a political agreement between the parties, and the plan is for another meeting to be held at the Kurdistan Regional Presidency next week,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference held by the Region’s Ministry of Higher Education in Erbil.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani held a meeting earlier this month with representatives of the political parties in the Kurdistan Region to discuss the Region’s next elections and resolve outstanding issues ahead of the process. Another meeting was then set for early September. 

The Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections are set to occur on October 1, but the process has been hindered by disagreements between the Kurdish political parties over the Region’s current commission and election laws, casting doubt on the likelihood of the vote being held on time.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and several other Kurdish political blocs have claimed that the electoral regulations are outdated and in need of amendment before October’s vote, a suggestion opposed by Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), arguing that amending the laws requires the agreement of all parliamentary blocs.

By Klawdia Martani 

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