KDP achieves landslide victory in Iraq's legislative vote

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has emerged as a major winner in Iraq’s legislative elections, securing more than 9.4 percent of the total votes cast on Tuesday. Among parties in the Kurdistan Region and disputed areas, the KDP came out on top, followed by its rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), according to Rudaw’s election projections.

Masrour Barzani, the KDP's Second Deputy and Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, said the party secured more than a million votes.

According to projections compiled by Rudaw, the KDP secured around 9.4 percent of the total votes released by the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), which on Tuesday reported that the number of voters stood at approximately 10.9 million.

Importantly, the high turnout of KDP supporters comes against the backdrop of the “One Million Votes and More” campaign spearheaded by the KDP’s First Deputy and President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, during the party’s electoral campaign, which began on October 3 and ended when the electoral silence period went into effect on November 8.

“I thank my dear brother Mr. Nechirvan [Barzani], who first announced the one-million-vote challenge,” Masrour Barzani said in a Facebook post shortly after polls closed across and the ballot count begun on Tuesday.

For its part, the KDP’s traditional foe, the PUK, secured around half the number of votes gained by the KDP and, accordingly, about 18 seats in Iraq’s 329-member legislature, according to Rudaw projections.

Meanwhile, Kurdish opposition parties collectively won 13 seats in Iraq’s Council of Representatives.

The National Stance Movement (Halwest) secured five seats, followed by the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) with four and the New Generation Movement (NGM) with three. The Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal) secured only one seat.

The breakdown

The KDP secured a strong lead in Erbil, win 10 seats. The PUK and Halwest both followed with two seats each, and the NGM obtained one. The Islamic parties gained no seats. Erbil has 15 seats in the Iraqi parliament.

In the Kurdistan Region'a eastern Sulaimani province, the results shifted dramatically, with the PUK dominating the vote with eight seats, followed by Halwest’s three seats. The KDP, NGM, and KIU gained two seats each. Sulaimani has 17 seats in the Iraqi parliament.

Meanwhile, in the northern province of Duhok, the KDP reaffirmed its dominance, capturing nine seats. The KIU received three seats and the other Kurdish parties gained no seats.

In the disputed Kirkuk province, the PUK achieved a landslide victory, gaining six seats, while the KDP won two seats. The remaining four seats went to Arab and Turkmen parties, based on Rudaw’s calculations.

In Iraq's northern Nineveh province, the KDP gained five seats, while the PUK secured two. Other Kurdish parties failed to win any seats.

The PUK obtained two seats in Iraq's eastern Diyala and central Salahaddin provinces. Other Kurdish parties did not win any seats in these provinces.

Winners and losers of the election

The NGM and Baray Gal (The People's Front) , whose leaders - Shaswar Abdulwahid and Lahur Talabany, who are currently behind the bars respectively, have faced election defeats, paving the way for the newly-established Halwest under the leadership of Ali Hama Salih, a former outspoken lawmaker, to step in and secure the third or fourth place, after the ruling KDP and PUK.

The Sulaimani-based NGM, the Region's main opposition, won nine seats in Iraq's 2021 legislative elections, and garnered 15 seats in Kurdistan Region's October 2024 parliamentary polls.

However, the NGM performed very poorly in Tuesday’s federal general elections, according to results projected by Rudaw’s Election Desk.

Abdulwahid, the party's leader and founder, was jailed by Sulaimani security forces in mid-August and has been sentenced to five months over charges pertaining to making serious threats against others, their property, or their reputation. His NRT news channel earlier this month tried to air an interview, conducted over a phone call, but the program was barred by security forces following a decree by the ministry of culture.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has also auctioned off many of his properties due to his failure to repay loans owed to the government.

Abdulwahid's absence from the election campaign and the auctioning of his properties have apparently had a significant impact on the party’s weak performance.

The results do not include early voting from Sunday, during which the ruling parties traditionally received massive support.

The other jailed opposition leader, Talabany, has been imprisoned since late August. He is also based in Sulaimani. The party suffered a major setback in Tuesday’s polls, according to Rudaw’s projected results.

Talabany is a former co-president of the PUK. He was arrested following a violent standoff between his armed loyalists and security personnel. Sulaimani security forces (Asayish) then released what they said were confessions from a group linked to Talabany, detailing a plot to assassinate PUK leader Bafel Talabani. Baray Gal has denied the accusations.

Voter turnout across Iraq

The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has announced that the overall turnout across Iraq for the parliamentary elections exceeded 55 percent.

"The total number of voters in the general election [on Tuesday] is 10,898,327 out of a total of 20,063,773 eligible voters, making the voter turnout percentage more than (54%)," said the IHEC.

The commission added that the total number of voters in both the early and general elections exceeded 12 million, noting that voter turnout for both days surpassed 55 percent.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani described the turnout as "another step towards protecting the democratic constitutional system" of Iraq.