Kurdistan Parliament blocs agree to hold elections on time

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Parliament Secretary Muna Qahwachi announced on Thursday that all the political blocs of the Kurdistan Parliament have agreed to hold parliamentary elections on time. 

"The political blocs at Kurdistan Parliament signed a proposal in which they all confirmed their political parties have agreed to hold the elections on time," Qahwachi told a press conference. "This came after a series of meetings took place during the past few weeks among the presidency of the parliament and the heads of the political blocs."

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Qahwachi went on to state that this is a national issue that needs consensual agreement and not a majority of votes.

"The KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party), the largest parliamentary bloc, took the initiative to consult with other parties on the election issue to ensure all steps are taken consensually with all political parties," said Qahwachi. "The Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission's (IHERC) mandate has expired, and we need to issue a new law for reactivating it." 

Qahwachi underlined that the Turkmen component has no representative in IHERC and emphasized that "the rights of the Turkmen component are not protected within IHERC." 

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However, she argued that amending the law will require lengthy procedures and discussions in parliament, which might delay the elections. 

The current parliamentary term ends on Nov. 6, 2022. Therefore, elections need to be held before then. 

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IHERC's mandate expired on Dec. 20, 2019. Kurdish lawmakers need to pass a new law or amend the existing one to renew its mandate.