Unlike in previous elections, which followed a single constituency system, the June vote will see the Kurdistan Region divided into four constituencies. Sulaimani will have the most number of seats with 38, followed by Erbil with 34, Duhok with 25, and Halabja with three.
Jumana al-Ghalai, spokesperson of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), told Rudaw’s Nahro Mohammed that the KDP has submitted a request to the IHEC to increase Halabja’s seats, adding that the body has not yet provided an official response. She stressed that the decision is not in their hands.
“The Federal Supreme Court rules on how the seats should be divided, not the commission. That is why the seats cannot be changed, because the Federal Supremes’ Court’s decision is final, cannot be appealed, and all must follow,” said Ghalai.
The division into four constituencies came as part of Iraq’s top court’s February ruling which found the 11 quota seats reserved for ethnic and religious minorities in the Kurdistan parliament to be “unconstitutional”, effectively eliminating them.
The Kurdistan Region Judicial Council said in a statement on Wednesday that changing the number of seats in the Kurdistan parliament is not within the Federal Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, as the Iraqi constitution recognizes the Region and its existing authorities.
“The constitution has recognized that Kurdistan Region’s laws need to be prioritized in case of a contradiction or a disagreement with the federal laws… The Federal Court has made itself the legislator through amending the seats of the Kurdistan parliament,” read a statement from Abdul-Jabbar Aziz Hassan, head of the Kurdistan Region Judicial Council.
In the statement, he cited Article 117 of the Iraqi constitution, which recognized the Kurdistan Region and its existing authorities as a federal region, as well as Article 115 which states that “all powers not stipulated in the exclusive powers of the federal government belong to the authorities of the regions and governorates that are not organized in a region. With regard to other powers shared between the federal government and the regional government, priority shall be given to the law of the regions and governorates not organized in a region in case of dispute.”
Hassan stressed that the Federal Supreme Court does not have the power to amend constitutional articles or attempt to violate and create problems for them through baseless excuses. Additionally, he claimed that the establishment of Federal Supreme Court is unconstitutional itself, citing Article 92 which defines the court as an “independent judicial body, financially and administratively.”
The June 10 election will be unique in Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary history, with fewer seats in the legislature, a new constituency system, and the poll being administered by the federal commission for the first time due to disagreements between the main Kurdish parties that resulted in the failure to reactivate the regional electoral body.
The election is taking place with about a year and a half delay. It was initially scheduled for October 2022, but was repeatedly postponed because of disagreements between the political parties and pending court cases in Baghdad.
