PUK Official: The PUK seeks to amend the electoral law of Kurdistan Region

Stran Abdullah, PUK Politburo member and head of the PUK's Media Office.

Member of the Political Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Stran Abdullah, confirmed on Sunday that the PUK seeks to amend the election law in the Kurdistan Region.

"The PUK will not participate in the parliamentary elections of Kurdistan unless the election law is amended in the Region," Abdullah said during a TV interview.

"The votes of minorities and the election law in the region serve a particular party," he added, stressing that the PUK is working to change the law in a way that serves the people of the Kurdistan Region.

Parliamentary elections are held every four years as stipulated in Article 8 of the Kurdistan Electoral Law.

A minimum quota of 30 percent of the parliamentary seats is reserved for female MPs, while 11 seats are allocated for parties that represent minorities. However, none of the minorities' 11 seats is filled with a representative from Slemani Governorate and its surroundings when there are many different minorities present in these regions. 

Abdullah indicated, "The PUK will enter the elections for the people to fulfill their aspirations. The election law has been amended several times in Iraq, so why is the election law not changed in the Kurdistan Region? What prevents that?"

"There is no balance in the representation of the governorates in the Kurdistan Parliament as there is a major imbalance in the voter register, in addition to the fact that the Electoral Commission in the Kurdistan Region needs to be changed," he pointed out.

"The elections are not only setting a date but require preparations and other things... you can't talk about changing in the democratic system without providing the necessary requirements for conducting the elections transparently and fairly," he said.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani issued a decree last Thursday setting the date for the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary election to October 1, 2022.

The decree requires the parliament, government, and the electoral commission to start preparing for the electoral process, according to a statement from the presidency’s office.

The Kurdistan Region held its fifth elections for the 111 seats of the parliament on September 30, 2018. Over one million people participated in the vote with a turnout of 59 percent.



PUKmedia