Five injured in New Generation election campaign rally

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Five individuals were injured in a brawl at an election rally for the newly founded New Generation Movement in Raniya on Sunday.

 
“Today during election campaigning of the New Generation list in Raniya, a number of youth got into arguments among themselves, leading to five people being injured. After their injury, they were taken to Ranya’s hospital,” Taha Mohammed, Raniya’s health deparment spokesperson, told Rudaw.
 
The health official added that some of the injured had broken arms, and had visible wounds. They are currently being treated.
 
“Our teams are busy investigating, and so far no one has filed a complaint,” Shorsh Ismael, the spokesperson for Raparin’s police directorate, told Rudaw.
 
“I was near the incident’s location. Some individuals assaulted eachother with knives and got injured,” an eyewitness told Rudaw.
 
The New Generation Movement were not available for comment.

Businessman Shaswar Abdulwahid was elected the movment's leader during its first congress in January.

Iraq will hold a parliamentary election on May 12. Sunday was the first day of campaigns in the Kurdistan Region.

With the loss of PUK founder and leader Jalal Talabani and his Gorran counterpart Nawshirwan Mustafa, votes in Sulaimani province are up for grabs. Additionally, longtime PUK politician Barham Salih has founded the Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ) and is a former KRG prime minister.