ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on Sunday criticized the Kurdish parliament adding the reactivation of the electoral commission as one of the items on its upcoming session’s agenda, pointing the finger at the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and calling the step “illegal”. The Kurdistan Region parliament is set to discuss the reactivation of the Region’s electoral commission on Monday’s session. The item was added to the agenda upon the request of the KDP bloc in the Kurdish parliament, which deemed the body’s inactivity as an obstacle in front of holding the parliamentary elections on time. The head of the KDP bloc Zana Mala Khalid told reporters on Sunday that they have reached an understanding with the blocs in the parliament to reactivate the commission in its current form, and have also agreed to most of the amendments to the elections law as suggested by the blocs, mainly the PUK, in order to ensure that the parliamentary elections are conducted on time later this year. However, he stressed that the parties have been unable to reach an understanding on the number of seats allocated for minorities in the Kurdish parliament, a sticking point that has been a source of disagreement between the two ruling parties. “Unfortunately the KDP has once again, using representatives of the so-called components, taken a one-sided and illegal step by adding an item to the May 22, 2023 session’s agenda, which is the reactivation of the electoral and referenda commission,” said the PUK in a statement later in the day. The document published by the parliament announcing the addition of the item to Monday’s agenda was signed by Deputy Speaker Hemin Hawrami, who is a KDP politburo member, and Second Deputy Muna Kahveci, who is a Turkmen, but not by the speaker herself Rewaz Fayaq. The PUK said that the addition violates the parliament’s bylaws which requires new items be announced at least 24 hours before the session is set to take place, and is also in contradiction to the understanding reached between the political powers that items relating to the reactivation of the electoral commission and amending the elections law should only be added to the agendas once the parties have reached an agreement on them. “This is a step towards deepening the political disagreements,” the PUK added. Despite the strong protest, head of the PUK bloc Ziad Jabar told Rudaw that the party will “definitely” attend Monday’s session and declare its stance from there. The Kurdistan Parliament consists of 111 seats, with 11 of them dedicated to minorities under a quota system. Turkmens have five seats, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syriacs have five, and Armenians one. Some political parties have claimed that these seats are exploited by the KDP, which is accused of directing security forces to vote for the minority candidates it favors. The KDP has denied the claims. The recent disagreement between the KDP and the PUK comes in the midst of reconciliation efforts between the two ruling parties in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The efforts have been welcomed and commended by the diplomatic missions in the Region, urging the parties to resolve all outstanding issues to prevent further delay of holding the parliamentary elections. The Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections are set to be held on November 18, over a year removed from its originally scheduled date. Disagreements between the KDP, PUK, and other blocs in the Kurdistan Region’s parliament over the current elections law and electoral commission prevented the carrying out of the parliamentary elections last year, leading the legislative body to controversially extend its term for an extra year.
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