Iraqi KDP takes lead in first Kuridish poll since ISIS exit
▶ PUK says it might reject results over breaches in ‘voting process’
The Kurdistan Democratic Party led preliminary results yesterday after the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s parliamentary elections, with rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan hinting it might reject the ballot.
People living in the autonomous region in northern Iraq voted on Sunday in the first election since the defeat of ISIS.
The region is divided into areas controlled by rivals KDP and PUK.
The Kurdistan parliament has been largely paralysed since 2015 after a dispute over then president Masoud Barzani seeking an extension of his term, while both parties embraced a failed referendum on independence last year.
Preliminary results suggest that, rather than turn against the entrenched parties, voters largely cast their ballots along previous party lines.
“As 75 per cent of the votes have been counted, initial results indicate the KDP is currently leading in the elections by gaining 42 seats in parliament, and PUK has come in second by winning 20 seats,” a KDP official, Jangish Awakaly, told The National.
But allegations of fraud clouded the outcome of the vote.
The PUK said on Sunday night that it might not recognise the results of the election, before it backtracked.
In a statement, the party said its decision to reject the results in several provinces was based on what it called breaches of the voting process.
The statement was later with- drawn, with some officials in the party, including Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, claiming it was “too early to judge the results”.
On Saturday, the Kurdish election commission issued instructions to voters on what type of identification was required for voting, to try to prevent fraud, it said.
The last four years have been challenging for the KRG. The election is an opportunity for voters to create positive changes in the region, a senior Kurdish official told The National.
An estimated three million people were eligible to vote across three provinces in the region, but many were disillusioned after years of debt problems, corruption and cuts to public salaries.
“People had the chance to cast their votes and elect the list they believe in and trust in, for the party that has demonstrated leadership and the party that has demonstrated good governance,” the official said.
Meanwhile in Baghdad, politicians were expected to meet last night to elect a new president from seven candidates.
Under the constitution, if no candidate wins a two-thirds majority, the contest can be rerun at a later date.
An informal arrangement was put in place to ensure that senior government roles are divided between the predominant ethno-sectarian groups – with the prime minister being a Shiite Arab, the speaker of parliament a Sunni Arab, and the president a Kurd.
But Kurdistan’s two historic parties are competing for the post and they were unable to agree on a nomination for president, something that threatens their usually united front.
The KDP nominated Fuad Hussein, a former chief of staff to Mr Barzani. The PUK nominated former Iraqi deputy prime minister Barham Salih, asserting that the post should be held by one of its members.
Mr Hussein, 69, is a Shiite Kurd, who will likely win support from members of the Shiite-majority in Baghdad.
Mr Salih, 58, a moderate, served in both administrations – as Iraqi deputy premier and Kurdish prime minister.
A tacit accord between the two parties meant the PUK would hold the federal presidency and the KDP the post of Iraqi Kurdistan’s president.
But the Iraqi Kurdish president post is still vacant since Mr Barzani resigned after the independence referendum.
Iraq’s Kurds have played a key role in the war against ISIS and had hoped that their role would boost international support for statehood.