New date proposed for Kurdistan’s long-delayed elections

SULAIMANIYA/ERBIL - Iraq's top election authority has proposed Sept. 5 as a new date for long-delayed parliamentary elections in Kurdistan — the latest twist in a contentious saga that has aggravated the rivalry between the region’s two dominant political parties.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) are nominally partners in leading the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) but in recent years have descended into conflict that has undermined both the quality of their governance and the potency of their political voice in Baghdad.

New elections seemed to offer the prospect of a political reset, and after serial delays, a vote had been scheduled for June 10. But then in February a court ruling in Baghdad upended the parameters of the election and prompted the KDP to threaten a boycott.

Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) is now calling for elections to be held Sept. 5, according to official correspondence seen by Iraq Oil Report. The new date comes after a flurry of further legal action and political back-channeling in Baghdad.