The PUK's conditions guarantee fair elections

Reports 12:01 PM - 2023-02-06

Elections

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) emphasizes its conditions for timely, free, and fair elections in the Kurdistan Region, which are supported by Kurdish parties.
 
"We and the majority of other political parties support having fair and timely elections, but the electoral law must be changed, the voter list must be cleared, and minorities must choose their representatives rather than being used as pressure cards," said Bafel Jalal Talabani, president of the PUK, in regards to the elections, in a statement to Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General.
 

The PUK wants fair elections

 PUKMEDIA spoke with Dr. Jwan Ihsan, a member of the PUK Political Bureau, who said: "The PUK wants the Kurdistan Region to have elections that are free, accurate, and supportive of the democratic process." As a result, the PUK has consistently argued for a review of the area's election procedures and the adoption of new electoral laws, which the process itself requires because the region's current electoral law hasn't been updated in many years and all electoral laws must be reviewed after each election.
 
"Another concern is the inspection of the voter registration list that will be used as the foundation for the process," she continued. "Since the current record is fairly fragile, the record needs to be purged of the names of the deceased, refugees, and others." 

"The PUK's demands are public and valid before they even become political demands because the majority of the political forces in the Kurdistan Region support them," Ihsan added.
 
She further said, "This makes the PUK's position clear and indicative of the lack of any political drive at the level of the Kurdistan Region." "The PUK's demands and fears about the Kurdistan Region's electoral process, as well as its adamancy and concerns about democracy and the preservation of the region's history and identity, are all in the public's interest."
 

The PUK seeks democracy

 As an international socialist party, the PUK aspires to advance democracy in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
 
"The PUK is making every effort to strengthen democracy in the Kurdistan Region, and its demands for the electoral process come within this context," said Jutiar Nuri, a member of the PUK Political Bureau, to PUKMEDIA.

"As a socialist international party, the PUK welcomes and supports any process that promotes democracy in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq," he added. "As such, the goal is for the elections to match the people's expectations and be a democratic and transparent process."
 

The PUK is ready for elections

 Other Kurdish parties have echoed the PUK's demands for election conditions, which will strengthen the electoral process.
 
Ziad Jabar, the leader of the PUK faction in the Kurdistan Parliament, told PUKMEDIA: "The PUK is ready for the elections, but only under the criteria it had previously established, which are clearing up the voter list, reactivating the electoral commission, and amending the electoral law."
 
"All parties should know their true number of votes without fraud," he continued, "so that we can all reconcile the people with the democratic electoral process." The PUK's demands for a free and fair election are also made by the parties.
 
"Unfortunately, most of the items in the agreement have not yet been implemented," he said. "One of the issues of the agreement signed with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) before the establishment of the 9th cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was modifying the electoral legislation."
 
Following a recent meeting to discuss the elections, the PUK, the Gorran Movement, the Kurdistan Justice Group, and the Kurdistan Islamic Union issued a joint statement saying that the electoral law needed to be changed before the elections and that the commission needed to be reactivated before clearing the voter list.



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