ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The federal electoral commission will meet with the Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Tuesday to set a new date for the Region’s already-delayed parliamentary elections, the spokesperson for the electoral body revealed on Sunday. Jumana al-Ghalai, the spokesperson of the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) told Rudaw on Sunday that a delegation from the body will visit the Kurdistan Region on Monday and meet with President Barzani the following day to set a new date for the Region’s general elections after the commission announced that it would not be able to hold the vote on the scheduled date. Imad Jamil, the head of the federal electoral commission’s media team, said earlier this month that “we have sent a letter to the Kurdistan Region Presidency to inform them that we cannot hold Kurdistan parliamentary elections on February 25.” The poll was initially scheduled for October 2022, but was pushed to November of the following year due to disagreements among the political parties over the election law. After an Iraqi court ruling against the self-extension of the Kurdistan parliament as a result of the delayed elections, the poll was postponed to February 2024, this time under the supervision of the Iraqi electoral commission. The Presidency has repeatedly emphasized its efforts to hold the polls on time. There have been contradictory comments from the IHEC regarding the commission’s ability to hold the vote on time. Al-Hassan Qabas, a member of the IHEC’s media team, told Rudaw last month that they had already begun preparations for the Kurdish region’s elections, adding that unexpected development will not affect their plan for the vote.
