ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Justice Minister Khalid Shwani on Monday told Rudaw that technical issues occurring during the provincial elections will impact the results of what he called a “special and historic” vote. “The [voting] process is going on normally until now, but there are some technical issues, especially those whose fingerprints cannot be taken,” Shwani told Rudaw’s Hardi Mohammed after casting his ballot in Kirkuk. “The electoral commission knew that these fingerprints cannot be taken… this has created a technical issue for voters, and the number is high and it makes an impact,” he added. Shwani also called on the Kurdish population of Kirkuk to head towards the polling stations to cast their votes in order accomplish a result that benefits the Kurdish parties in the city. “Only a high voter turnout can take the results in a direction that serves the Kurdistani forces,” he said. Iraq helds its long-anticipated provincial elections in 15 provinces on Monday. The last provincial council elections took place in 2013, without Kirkuk. The city had not had a local election since the inception of the provincial councils in 2005. The provincial councils were created by the 2005 Iraqi constitution following the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime. They hold significant power, including setting budgets for several key sectors such as education, health, and transport, but are accused of being rife with corruption. “Today is a very special and historic day in Kirkuk, today dictates the next four years of Kirkuk’s future, I call on all the people of Kirkuk, especially the Kurdistanis to head to the ballot boxes and vote to end the unjust and racially discriminative authority in Kirkuk,” Shwani added. The Iraqi federal government’s return to power in Kirkuk in 2017 also meant the province would have a non-Kurdish governor for the first time since 2003 - Rakan al-Jabouri, a Sunni politician and head of the Arab coalition has served as Kirkuk’s acting governor in the past six years. Jabouri’s tenure as governor has been a topic of debate. He is accused by some of attempting to revive the Ba'athist policy of Arabization to weaken the Kurdish population, but others praise him for breathing life back into previously-neglected Arab neighborhoods.
