KDP to rejoin Iraqi Kurdistan parliamentary elections amid talks for new date

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) announced on Sunday that it will participate in the upcoming Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections, contingent on recent changes to the voting mechanism. This announcement comes after the party's boycott of the polls in March.

Elections in Iraqi Kurdistan, initially scheduled for late 2022, faced repeated delays due to disputes between the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

"The Kurdistan Democratic Party has always been ready to participate in the elections, but we had concerns about its mechanisms," said Ari Harsin, head of the KDP's branch in Sulaimaniyah, during a press conference. "With the recent changes made, yes, we will participate in the elections."

The changes include a decision by Baghdad to allocate five seats for minorities across the Kurdistan Region's three provinces. This follows a February ruling by Iraq's top court that stripped minorities of their quota seats in the legislature, deeming them "unconstitutional."

The court's ruling led the KDP to boycott the elections, initially rescheduled for 10 June, citing concerns over the removal of the minority quota by Baghdad.

The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), which oversees the election process, recently proposed 5 September as the new date for the polls after informing Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani of its inability to conduct the elections this month, according to an official document obtained by The New Arab. Kurdish authorities have yet to finalise the new date.

According to a well-informed Kurdish source, the delay in specifying a new date stems from the KDP's insistence on a political agreement among Kurdish parties on post-election power distribution. "The KDP is exploiting a new election date as a pressure card on the other political parties, especially the PUK. As per directives from the KDP, Barzani, also a top KDP official, will not identify the new election date," the source said, on condition of anonymity.

Nechirvan Barzani is expected to announce a new election date after detailed discussions with Kurdish political parties and the IHEC. Iraq's parliament recently extended IHEC's mandate for another six months, beyond its previous expiry date of 7 July, to facilitate the elections.

In early May, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister and senior KDP member Masrour Barzani filed a lawsuit with Iraq's top court, arguing that eliminating the minority quota was "unconstitutional" and violated principles of fair representation as outlined in the constitution.

Last month, Iraq's Supreme Federal Court upheld the Supreme Judicial Council's decision to allocate five seats to minorities. Minority groups in the Kurdistan region have rejected this allocation, expressing significant dissatisfaction following the court's decision in February, which deemed their 11 quota seats unconstitutional. The court also rejected Barzani's plea contesting the seat distributions.

The court's decision heightened tensions within the Kurdistan Region’s political landscape. The KDP, led by Masoud Barzani, initially called for a postponement of at least three months. Barzani's lawsuit challenged the distribution of parliamentary seats among constituencies, alleging that the current allocation method is unconstitutional.

In February, Iraq's top court ruled that the Kurdistan Region's parliament would consist of 100 lawmakers, effectively terminating the 11 quota seats for Turkmen, Christians, and Armenians, which had been in place since 1992. The decision followed a complaint by Yousif Yacoub Matti, head of the Bethnahrain Patriotic Union, a Christian party that, along with other minority parties, threatened to boycott the elections.

The latest decision divides the five allocated seats among the Kurdistan Region’s provinces: Sulaimaniyah will receive two seats, Erbil two, and Duhok one. IHEC clarified that Erbil and Sulaimaniyah will each receive one seat for the Christian and Turkmen communities, while Duhok’s seat will be allocated to the Armenians.

The PUK has rejected this decision and asked Iraq's top court to add another seat for the Kakayee minority in Halabja province.

This move has faced opposition from other political factions, including the New Generation—a Kurdish opposition party—and the Iraqi parliament, which filed a legal case urging the court to designate the KRG as a caretaker government and dissolve it within three months. The deepening political crisis has further polarized the region's political factions, exacerbating tensions and undermining efforts to reach a consensus on the way forward.

The KDP and the PUK maintain separate Peshmerga forces and distinct security and intelligence agencies. Between 1994 and 1998, they engaged in an internal conflict that resulted in the deaths, injuries, and displacement of thousands of fighters and innocent civilians on both sides.

The last parliamentary election of September 2018 saw a turnout of only 57%, overshadowed by widespread allegations of voter fraud levelled against the KDP and the PUK.

Critics, including the PUK and opposition parties, frequently accuse the KDP of manipulating minority quotas to secure a parliamentary majority. Historically, all minority seats in the region have been allocated to Erbil province, despite the presence of minority populations in other Kurdish provinces.

In response, minority groups have contested these allegations, emphasising that 99% of Turkmen, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Assyrians and Armenians live in the provinces of Erbil and Dohuk.