Kurdistan Region parliament convenes for first sitting

ERBIL – The Kurdistan Region’s Parliament held its inaugural session for its sixth term on Monday, with 97 members, out of 100, taking their constitutional oaths. However, a lack of quorum for electing the parliamentary leadership team led to the session being adjourned indefinitely.

In the first segment of the session, members were sworn in, while the second segment involved nominations for the positions of speaker, deputy speaker, and secretary of parliament. A total of 15 candidates from five different political factions were nominated, including representatives from the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

Acting Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Suleiman explained the adjournment, stating, “We will wait until a full quorum is achieved.” According to parliamentary rules, electing the leadership team requires a candidate to secure at least 50% plus one of the votes. If no candidate achieves this threshold, a second round is held between the top two contenders, with the majority winner taking the post.

Islam Kashani, a member of parliament representing the Kurdistan Islamic Union, told 964 Media, “KDP and PUK faction members boycotted the session after nominations were made, deliberately obstructing the proceedings to delay the election of the parliamentary leadership. It appears to be a calculated move to create more time for political negotiations between the two parties to divide positions among themselves.”.

“Only our faction and the New Generation Movement remained in the session, due to the absence of a legal quorum, the session was postponed, leaving the leadership election unresolved.” he stated.

The reconvening date for the session remains undetermined.

In a surprising move, Hero Attar Hama Rashid, a parliamentarian from the Islamic Justice group’s faction, attended the session and took the parliamentary oath, despite her party’s decision to boycott the term due to fraud allegations in the October 20th election. This led the IJG’s leadership council to announce her expulsion from the party for violating its directives.

The IJG issued a statement explaining its boycott decision, citing “manipulation of seats and votes to favor certain factions,” adding that any member defying party orders would face expulsion. “Due to Hero Attar’s participation in this designed parliamentary session, we have decided to revoke her membership in the IJG,” the statement read.

The Kurdistan Region held its parliamentary elections for the 100-seat legislative chamber on Oct. 20, with preliminary results released the next day and final results officially announced on Oct. 30.

Following review and validation by the judicial committee overseeing the elections, the Kurdistan Democratic Party secured the largest share of seats, winning 39, while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan came in second with 23 seats.