Kurdistan Parliamentary Elections: Campaigns End as Voting Dates Approach

PUKMEDIA

Kurdistan Parliament building

At 12:00 am on 16 October 2024, the electoral campaigns for the sixth term of the Kurdistan Parliamentary elections concluded, in accordance with the decision of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC).

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a major Kurdish political party involved in the elections, declared its adherence to the IHEC's decision and ceased its electoral activities across its various media platforms.

Two days after the end of the electoral campaign, the special voting process is scheduled for Friday, 18 October 2024, while the general voting will occur on Sunday, 20 October. For both processes, polling stations will open at 7:00 am and close at 6:00 pm, and there will be no extension of the voting period.

The Kurdistan Parliament comprises 100 seats, which include 5 quotas for minority communities: two for Turkmen, two for Christians, and one for Armenians. This term's elections are conducted using a multi-constituency system, with seats distributed across four electoral constituencies: Erbil with 36 seats (including two for Turkmen and Christians), Sulaymaniyah with 38 seats (also including two for Turkmen and Christians), Duhok with 25 seats (one of which is for the Armenian community), and Halabja with 3 seats. Additionally, 30% of the seats are reserved for women.

On 26 June 2024, the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region issued its fifth decree to establish a new date for the sixth term of the Kurdistan Parliament elections. This followed four previous decrees, during which the elections were postponed and did not occur on the initially scheduled dates. The new date set for the elections is 20 October 2024.

A total of 139 electoral lists are participating in the Kurdistan Parliamentary elections, comprising two alliances, 13 political parties, and 124 individual candidates. Among these, there are 85 general candidates and 39 candidates representing minority groups, including 19 Christian candidates distributed as follows: 7 in Erbil, 4 in Sulaymaniyah, and 8 in Duhok. Additionally, there are 20 Turkmen candidates, with 14 in Erbil and 6 in Sulaymaniyah.

The elections are overseen by the IHEC of Iraq. According to statistics obtained by PUKMEDIA from the Commission, a total of 35 international organisations and media outlets, 13 consulates, 12,972 representatives of political entities, 15 parties, 1,098 local observers, and 28 local organisations have registered to monitor the upcoming Kurdistan Parliamentary elections. 

The IHEC also reported that the total number of voters in the Kurdistan Region stands at 2,683,618 for the general voting process and 215,960 for the special voting process. Around 97% of voters have received their biometric cards and are eligible to cast their votes. There are 1,266 centres and 6,318 polling stations throughout all provinces in the Kurdistan Region.



PUKMEDIA