US supports Kurdistan Region elections being held soon

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US supports the Kurdistan Region holding free and fair parliamentary elections “at the earliest opportunity,” a State Department official said on Wednesday, amid doubts that they will not be held according to schedule. 

Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary election is scheduled for November 18, a year later than they were initially supposed to be held, with the term of the parliament being extended by a year. 

“The UN envoy to Iraq has also worked closely with all relevant parties and institutions on the question of IKR [Kurdistan Region] elections, and we support her efforts. We, likewise, support holding parliamentary elections in the IKR at the earliest opportunity,” a US State Department official who chose to not be named told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda on Wednesday. 

“Elections are the hallmark of democracies and the essential mechanism by which a people hold their representatives accountable,” the official added.

The remarks come amid increasing doubts on whether the elections will go ahead as scheduled given a ruling last month by Iraq’s top court which deemed the extension of the parliament as unconstitutional. This renders any decision made by the parliament in the past year null and void, including those related to holding elections. 

In addition, the Region also missed their chance to reactivate the electoral commission in May, resulting in skirmishes in the parliament. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) claims the commission has been reactivated after scoring the majority vote of 58 MPs, while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) refused to acknowledge the vote. 

The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert recently described the tensions between KDP and PUK over elections as “very disturbing” and called on all parties to “find common ground.”

Despite the recent setbacks, the Kurdistan Region has been in talks with the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) and other relevant authorities in Baghdad to discuss the fate of the elections. The State Department official also acknowledged that these talks took place and is a positive sign. 

“As we do everywhere, we encourage the IKR elections to be free and fair,” the official stated. 

Diyar Kurda contributed to this report from Washington D.C.