ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Iraqi Parliament on Thursday decided on the division of Kirkuk for next year’s elections, dividing the disputed province into three electoral constituencies.
The parliament "voted to distribute the electoral districts for the Kirkuk governorate as part of the Iraqi Council of Representatives election law, dividing the province into three districts," read a statement from parliament.
The parliament "voted to distribute the electoral districts for the Kirkuk governorate as part of the Iraqi Council of Representatives election law, dividing the province into three districts," read a statement from parliament.
Kirkuk has a total of 12 seats.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced in July that the country's next parliamentary elections would take place on June 6, 2021, a year earlier than scheduled.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced in July that the country's next parliamentary elections would take place on June 6, 2021, a year earlier than scheduled.
The electoral commission said in August it would be ready to hold early elections in June provided the government and parliament meet certain demands, including passing a new electoral law and allocating a budget for the vote.
After months of disagreement, the parliament on Saturday passed a long-awaited elections law, initially excluding the provinces of Nineveh and Kirkuk.
“We agree with the mechanism of the distribution of the electoral constituencies for Kirkuk province,” Khasraw Goran, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) elections body told Rudaw, adding lawmakers were in parliament until 3:30am to pass the vote.
“The Kurdistani parties unanimously agreed on the way the electoral districts were divided in Kirkuk,” said Rizgar Haji Hama, head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PU) elections body. “Such division favours the Kurds.”
"We agreed that the number of constituencies in each province be on the basis of the number of quota seats of female parliamentarians," Aram Balataiy, spokesperson of the KDP bloc in the Iraqi Parliament, confirmed to Rudaw.
On Tuesday, the Iraqi parliament passed Nineveh's electoral law, dividing the province into eight constituencies. Nineveh has a total of 31 seats.
Twenty five percent of Iraqi parliament is reserved for female MPs, numbering 83 seats – with Iraq therefore split into 83 constituencies.
In each constituency, three to five seats are up for grabs for candidates, Aram Balataiy, spokesperson of the KDP bloc in the Iraqi Parliament confirmed to Rudaw.
Iraq's electoral system, built after the US invasion of 2003, divides power among Iraq's biggest religious and ethnic groups – Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. An overhaul of the sectarian system was among demands made by protesters who took to Iraq's streets from October 2019 onward.
Christians are the only minority group to be guaranteed a constituency, Balataiy added.
On a visit to Europe last month, top Iraqi officials asked European countries to send foreign observers to Iraq for the election.
