Iraqi Kurdistan’s Leading Party To Skip Parliamentary Elections Over Legal Disputes

The Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) declared Monday that it would not participate in the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, denouncing recent amendments to the election law as “unconstitutional.” The party’s decision was sparked by the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq’s alterations to the regional parliamentary elections law in February, which notably canceled 11 seats previously reserved for minorities and reduced the total number of parliamentary seats from 111 to 100. Additionally, the changes authorize the Independent High Electoral Commission to oversee the regional parliamentary elections, a task previously managed by the Kurdistan Regional Electoral Commission.

The KDP’s boycott is a protest against what it perceives as an illegitimate and undemocratic election process, aiming to challenge the federal court’s constitutional breaches and its efforts to centralize governance in Iraq. The party’s statement expressed concern over the imposition of electoral laws outside the democratic will of the Kurdistan people and its constitutional bodies.

Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region, had previously set June 10, 2024, as the election date for the sixth legislative term of the Kurdistan Parliament. The last elections, held in 2018, saw the KDP emerge as the leading party, securing 45 seats. The upcoming elections were initially scheduled for 2022 but were postponed due to political disagreements within the region.