Iraq
Ali Omar, Nineveh’s deputy governor, speaking to Rudaw on December 27, 2023. Photo: Rudaw/screengrab
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The results achieved by Kurdish parties in Nineveh’s provincial council elections were “disappointing and shocking,” the deputy governor of the province told Rudaw on Wednesday, describing the parties’ failure to obtain any seats in the city of Shingal (Sinjar) as a “disaster”.
Iraq held its long-anticipated provincial elections in 15 provinces earlier this month, with a total of 6,599,668 voters casting a ballot, accounting for a 41 percent turnout. Nineveh, which is one of Iraq’s multi-ethnic provinces and the home of the Yazidi community, recorded a 52 percent turnout at the polls.
In Nineveh, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) entered the elections under the umbrella of the Nineveh People Union Alliance, while the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) entered separately.
The KDP came second in the province as its votes amounted to 127,938, granting the party four seats on the council according to unofficial assessments, while the PUK scored 45,939 votes, gaining two seats.
“Kurds were expecting to get 9 to 10 seats on Nineveh’s provincial council… but the results were unexpected,” Ali Omar, Nineveh’s deputy governor, told Rudaw's Nwenar Fatih on Wednesday, adding “the status of Kurds in Nineveh is in jeopardy and the KDP and the PUK are responsible for that.”
Omar stated that the two Kurdish parties need to cooperate in the discussions on forming the local governments, otherwise they stand to lose the posts that are currently held by Kurds in the province.
“It is a disaster that no Kurdish candidate was elected in Shingal,” Omar noted, stating that the disappointing Kurdish results in Shingal are a reflection of the people’s frustration and disapproval of the KDP and the PUK.
“Disputes between Kurds and Kurds, Kurds and Arabs, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, even regional and international disagreements are present in Shingal and the city is a victim to that,” he added.
The provincial councils were created by the 2005 Iraqi constitution following the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime. They hold significant power, including setting budgets for several key sectors such as education, health, and transport, but are accused of being rife with corruption.
The councils were dissolved in 2019 in response to demands by Tishreen protesters who criticized the system for its failures and for enabling corruption.
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