There are five Kurdish candidates in Saladin. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party has fielded a candidate on an Arab list. The Kurdish Homeland (Nishtiman) list — together with the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) — supports a candidate in the Victory Coalition list.
A Kurdistan Communist Party candidate and one independent are fielding candidacy on the Tazamun list. The New Generation and the Kurdistan Freedom Movement are running separately on another Arab list.
The PUK, the largest Kurdish party in the province had won 17,000 votes in the previous Iraqi parliament election, but failed to secure a seat, while there were some parties whose candidates slipped into the Council of Representatives with just 2,500 votes.
The PUK candidate is Shalal Abdul, a former Tuz Khurmatu mayor, who was ousted by local authorities after October when the city fell to the Shiite paramilitaries. Abdul is running on National Popular Fort Coalition, headed by Ahmed al-Jabouri, a previous governor in Saladin who is Sunni.
“In all the previous rounds of the Iraqi parliament, Kurds were not able to send an MP in Saladin, despite gaining many votes,” Abdul said.
He is “very optimistic” they can secure one seat.
“If we run separately and alone, we will face difficulties in securing a seat among all these Arab lists,” said Abdul.
The population of Saladin is estimated to be around 1.5 million, 4 percent are Kurds. Kurds have never been able to secure a seat in the province.
Aso Salih Rashad is another Kurdish candidate in Saladin running on the Victory Coalition (Nasr) led by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
The newly established Coalition for Democracy and Justice, the Change Movement and Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal) are working and campaigning for him. Homeland is a coalition of Komal, Gorran, and CDJ in the disputed territories.
The KIU also threw their support behind Rashad in Saladin saying they do not work to make the Abadi list victorious, but will for a Kurd
“We are supporting [Rashad] in the list, not the Nasr [Victory] Coalition, We want to help him go to the parliament, no matter what background he is,” Qasim Galali, head of the KIU election body, told Rudaw.
Sirwan Ahmed, a former official in the Iraqi elections commission expressed Kurds should’ve jointly supported previous elections.
“In the previous parliamentary election, Mullah Karim Shukur was a Kurdish candidate on the PUK list in Saladin. He received the largest amount of votes as a candidate, but he never managed to secure a seat,” Ahmed said.
The elections expert explained, “What is really important is to know how you could gain a seat with minimum votes. Kurds have not yet been able to pass that threshold. But, Turkmen, in addition to being few in number; they receive seats, as they run on Arab lists.”
Ahmed expressed that Kurdish turnout and the strength of the candidate will be the deciding factors.
Iraqi elections are scheduled to take place on May 12.
