IHEC: Most of the Parties and Coalitions Have not Nominated Candidates

Kurdistan 03:58 PM - 2024-03-26

IHEC logo & Kurdistan Parliament building

Currently, a total of 36 independent candidates have self-nominated for the parliamentary elections in Kurdistan, with the registration deadline approaching in just two days. The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) is preparing for the Kurdistan parliamentary elections and emphasizes that any party boycott would not cause delays in the process.

Only 2 parties and 3 coalitions have nominated candidates

Emad Jamil, head of IHEC's media team told PUKMEDIA: "Currently, a total of 36 independent candidates have registered for the Kurdistan parliamentary elections. The deadline for candidate submissions is Thursday, March 28, 2024, and there will be no extensions granted."

"Based on the available statistics, there have been 11 candidates who have registered in Erbil, 13 in Sulaymaniyah, and 12 in Duhok. Only two political parties have registered their candidates in the cities of Duhok and Sulaymaniyah, however, three political coalitions have submitted their candidates in the cities of Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and Halabja," he added.

Absent political parties will not affect the electoral process

"There are no intentions to delay the Kurdistan parliamentary elections, and any political party that chooses to boycott the elections will not have any influence on the electoral process," Jamil added, "This is similar to previous instances where certain parties boycotted the Iraqi provincial council elections, but their absence did not affect the overall process."

"The IHEC teams are currently engaged in ongoing preparations for the elections scheduled to take place on June 10th of this year," he added.

20 parties, 2 coalitions, and 62 independent candidates will participate in elections

There are a total of 20 parties, two coalitions, and 62 independent candidates who have officially registered to take part in the parliamentary elections in Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Region has a total of 3,789,360 voters, out of whom over 2,900,000 voters have successfully registered in the biometric registration and are prepared to take part in the elections.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is among the 22 political parties and coalitions that will partake in the forthcoming parliamentary elections throughout all four constituencies of Kurdistan. Rizgar Haji Hama, Supervisor of the PUK's Elections Bureau, stated that the PUK has completed all necessary preparations and is fully prepared to take part in the elections.


PUKMEDIA