ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish political parties failed to maintain their majority in the disputed province of Kirkuk during the mid-December provincial elections, according to final official results announced on Thursday.
Local elections were held in Iraq’s 15 provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region, on December 18. Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced final official results late Thursday.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) gained five seats (157,649 votes) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) won two seats (52,278 votes) in the 16-seat provincial council, according to the results.
The Kurdish New Generation won 25,910 votes but failed to secure a seat. The party has been accused by the other two Kurdish parties of jeopardizing a Kurdish victory in the province - a claim disputed by the movement.
Arabs gained six seats and Turkmens won two seats. A party close to Shiite militia groups, won the Christian quota seat.
In the last polls held in the province nearly two decades ago, Kurdish parties had won most of the council’s seats.
The councils were dissolved in 2019 in response to demands by Tishreen protesters who criticized the system for its failures, including enabling corruption.
Kurds took control of Kirkuk when it was attacked by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014. However, Iraqi federal forces expelled Kurdish forces from the province after an independence referendum was held in the province by Kurdish authorities in 2017.
