Electoral commission approves quota seats for Kurdistan Region elections

NEWSROOM — The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission has officially approved the allocation of minority seats for the Kurdistan Region’s governorates for the upcoming Kurdistan Parliamentary elections. The decision followed a meeting of the Council of Commissioners.

Out of the total 100 seats in the Kurdistan Parliament, five will be reserved for minorities.

The commission has divided the five allocated seats among the region’s three governorates: Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok.

Erbil governorate, with a total of 34 seats, will allocate two for minorities: one for Christians and one for Turkmen.

Similarly, Sulaymaniyah governorate, which has 38 seats, will also reserve two seats for minorities: one for Christians and one for Turkmen.

Duhok, with a total of 25 seats, will allocate one seat for Christians.

Halabja, recognized as a governorate by the Kurdistan Regional Government, has three seats but no quota for minorities.

This official approval follows the Iraqi Electoral Judiciary Council’s decision to restore five quota parliamentary seats to the minorities of the Kurdistan Region.

According to the Law of the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq, No. 31 of 2019, decisions of the Council of Commissioners can be appealed to the Electoral Judiciary Council within three days of issuance.

It remains unclear on what basis the distribution of minority seats in the Kurdish parliament was made. Factors may include actual minority population numbers or the balance of power between the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which rules Erbil and Duhok, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdista, the main party in Sulaymaniyah. In Duhok, the allocated Armenian seat sees less contention, as the majority of Armenians in Iraq reside in the governorate. Approximately 150 Armenian families, totaling over 1,000 individuals, now live in Duhok’s Zakho district alone.

However, a significant number of Christians live in Erbil, particularly in Ainkawa, Shaqlawa, Soran, and Koya. They have been allocated one seat despite their likely larger numbers compared to those in Sulaymaniyah. Turkmen mainly live in Erbil, though there is no verified statistical data regarding their exact numbers. Duhok also has a significant Chaldean Christian population but received no quota seats.

Previously, of Kurdistan Parliament’s 111 seats, 11 were allocated for minorities. But on Feb. 21, 2024, after 11 delays, the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court issued a verdict regarding the Kurdistan parliamentary election law. The court’s ruling addressed issues within the 1992 law, declaring certain provisions unconstitutional and redefining the number of Kurdistan parliamentary seats to 100 members, annulling 11 quota seats. It also split the electoral map into four constituencies corresponding with the Kurdistan Region’s four governorates.

In response, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, along with Christian and Turkmen parties, announced a boycott of the parliamentary elections.

The new date for the much-anticipated Kurdistan Parliamentary elections has yet to be set.

The IHEC has proposed holding the Kurdistan parliamentary elections at the beginning of September. Imad Jamil, head of the commission’s media team, told 964media that a written proposal has been sent to the Kurdistan Region Presidency, recommending September 5 as the election date. “We are awaiting the response from the presidency of the Kurdistan Region regarding the proposed date,” Jamil said.

The anticipated announcement will mark the fourth attempt to set a date for the sixth round of Kurdistan elections. Initially scheduled for October 2022, the elections were postponed due to political disagreements. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two ruling Kurdish parties, opposed holding elections at that time, citing objections to the distribution of minority seats and volatile internal conditions following a violent power struggle. The subsequent date of February 2024 also fell through due to pending lawsuits in the Federal Supreme Court and ongoing political disputes.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani later set June 10, 2024, as the new date, but this too will pass without an election being held due to the KDP boycott.