Three MPs request election delay in Kirkuk

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three members of the Iraqi parliament who identified themselves as representatives of the city’s Arab and Turkmen communities have called for the postponement of the Iraqi election for a week in the disputed city of Kirkuk.

Turkmen MP Ersat Salih and Sunni Arab MP Mohammed al-Tamimi held a press conference on Wednesday in Kirkuk, attended by a number of other politicians, including Hasan Turan, the head of the Turkmen front. 

A statement read by Khalid al-Mafraji, a Sunni Arab member of Iraqi parliament, claimed that Peshmerga forces are trying to move into Kirkuk territories under the guise of fighting remnants of the Islamic State in the disputed areas. It called on Iraqi forces to take on the ongoing threat posed by ISIS without the support of their Kurdish partners.

They claimed that Kirkuk has seen “visible security improvement” since the Iraqi armed forces captured Kirkuk in 2017 and expelled Kurdish Peshmerga forces, adding that "some political parties" are now trying to take advantage of the ISIS threat under the name of fighting the militants in order to achieve [their] electoral goals.” 

The statement went on to claim that the provincial office of the Independent High Electoral Commission discriminates against both Arab and Turkmen parties in favour of their Kurdish rivals, claiming the commission is stacking the elections in favour of the Kurds, which they claimed happened in the previous election.

In 2018, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), was able to win almost half of the seats allocated for Kirkuk, prompting allegations of fraud. The PUK denied all charges. 

"The Turkmen and Arab components request the elections in Kirkuk to be postponed for a week, provided that it will be conducted under the supervision of international observers," the statement by the MPs read.

The Independent High Election Commission decided last week to form a committee to directly oversee the elections in Kirkuk. The move was seen as a response to complaints by Arab and Turkmen parties who claimed that the number of Kurdish staff working for the Iraqi election office outnumbers those of other components.  

Kurdish parties have claimed that Arab and Turkmen parties, some supported by the militia network, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashed al-Shaabi in Arabic), vandalized their election posters and created obstacles for their candidates.

This election cycle, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has returned to Kirkuk to take part in the upcoming elections, after boycotting the previous one. The move is their first official political activity in the disputed province since 2017.

Fazel Mirani, secretary of the KDP's political bureau, speaking to Rudaw on Wednesday said that they are under "great pressure" in the disputed areas including in Kirkuk, claiming that following the Iraqi takeover of Kirkuk, "demographic change" and "Arabization" has taken place. But he said he was cautiously optimistic of their performance in these areas. 

With Iraq’s newest electoral law, Kirkuk holds 12 seats in the Iraqi parliament, and is divided into 3 electoral districts. There are just over 1 million voters in Kirkuk.  

The United Nations mission in Iraq has announced they will have 130 international experts  monitor the early elections scheduled for October 10. Jeanine Plasschaert, head of the mission said last week that they will give "special attention" to the elections in Kirkuk because of its "sensitivities."