ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Weeks after the Kurdistan Region held parliamentary elections on September 30, the election commission has published official results. 

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) achieved 688,070 votes, giving it a big lead over its rivals, securing 45 seats in the 111-seat parliament – leaving it 12 seats shy of an outright majority. The party will therefore need to enter a coalition agreement to form a government. 

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) came in at a distant second with 319,219 votes, securing 21 seats. This marks an improvement on its 2013 result of 18 seats.

The Change Movement (Gorran) was pushed into third place with 186,903 votes, securing just 12 seats – down from 24 in the last parliament. 

New Generation got 127,115 votes, securing eight seats, Komal seven seats, and the leftist Modern coalition one. 

In a sign of continued decline, the joint Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU)-Islamic Movement of Kurdistan (IMK) Reform List won five seats. When the KIU ran alone in 2013, it secured 10. 

The Communist Party, as part of the Azadi List, secured one seat, while the Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ), which officially boycotted the election, failed to secure a seat.

Of the 11 seats reserved for the Kurdistan Region’s minority groups, the Turkmen secured five, the Christians five, and the Armenians one. No seats are reserved for the Yezidis. 

Among the Turkmen parties, the Turkmen Development Party secured two seats, the Nation List one, the Turkmen Reform party one, and the Turkmen Front one. 

Among the Christian parties, the Rafidain List secured one seat, the Assyrian Syriac Chaldean Popular Council one, and the National Union Coalition three. 

An Arminian independent secured one seat. 

The election commission also published figures detailing which candidates secured the most votes. 

Qubad Talabani, head of the PUK list, won 182,000. Shaswar Abdulwahid, head of New Generation, won 106, 289. Ali Hama Salih, head of the Gorran list, won 81, 934. Hemin Hawrami, head of the KDP list, won 47,000. 

The election commission had delayed the announcement of official results while it investigated several allegations of fraud and violations of commission regulations. 

After investing these complaints, the commission decided to annul the results of 96 polling stations, voiding around 119,000 votes. The majority of annulled ballots were in Erbil province. 

A number of opposition parties threatened to boycott the next parliament if the preliminary results were approved by the commission. There are no substantial differences between the preliminary results and official figures.