JaFaJ

Dana Taib Menmy
The New Arab – english.alaraby.co.uk

10 August, 2022

The Kurdish political parties are expected to discuss and decide whether to postpone the upcoming parliamentary elections in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region
 

A man shows his inked finger after casting his vote for the parliamentary elections at a polling station in Arbil, Iraq on September 30, 2018. (Getty Images)

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani, and the main political parties in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR) are convening for the third time on Wednesday to discuss the region’s upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for October 1st, Kurdish officials said.
The meeting will also be attended by Plasschaert, Fawzi Hariri, the Kurdistan Region Presidency chief of staff, told Rudaw, a Kurdish news network close to Barzani.
Today’s meeting is the third round of talks about the region’s elections that are expected to be postponed until next year.  Plasschaert previously headed a meeting with top officials from the Kurdish political parties in Erbil on 26 May in a bid to reach an agreement on the upcoming elections. She also participated in another meeting with political parties on June 9.
The meeting comes after demonstrations across the Kurdistan region were held on Saturday. Demonstrators protested against attempts to postpone the region’s parliamentary elections. Kurdish security forces have responded by using tear gas and arrested hundreds of demonstrators, journalists and several lawmakers as well as senior officials from the New Generation Movement- an opposition party that had called the demonstrations.
“The agenda of the meeting is the elections of the Kurdistan parliament and ways to reach a suitable solution for this issue,” Yassin Hama Ali, head of the elections commission at the Kurdish Movement of Change (Gorran) told The New Arab by phone. He also clarified that he is not sure whether a decision for postponing the election would be made during the meeting.

Officials previously told TNA that “All the Kurdish political parties that participated in a meeting on Thursday, June 9, agreed on the point that the Kurdistan region’s upcoming parliamentary elections could not be held in October.”
Key issues are impeding the chances of actually holding the elections on the designated date, including differences among the Kurdish political parties over the region’s current outdated election’s commission composition as well as amending the region’s decades-old election law.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Gorran, partners with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), joined by three main opposition parties – the New Generation Movement, the Kurdistan Justice Party (Komal), and the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) – are asking the Kurdistan Parliament to amend the election law to divide the region into at least four electoral districts. The five parties are also asking for the establishment of a new election commission.
But Massoud Barzani’s KDP, which has a thin majority of 45 seats in the parliament, insists that the upcoming elections be held with the current election law and supervised by the region’s election commission whose mandate has already expired.
Rival politicians claim that the KDP is opposing the move since its vote share is expected to diminish largely if the party agrees to amend the law.
A source within Gorran, told TNA on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said that during Wednesday’s meeting “Plasschaert will listen to the final stances by all the Kurdish political sides on the election issue, whether they are ready to be held on its scheduled time or wound be postponed until at least one year.”
“We are not the ones hosting the meeting, hence we cannot comment on it,” Samir Ghattas, Director of UNAMI Public Information/Spokesperson told TNA via email.
Several Kurdish local citizens from Sulaimaniyah city told TNA that they are not expecting the elections to be held in October and even if were held they would boycott it due to “large-scale voter fraud by the ruling parties”.
The Kurdistan parliament includes 111 seats; women have a minimum quota of 30 percent, while 11 seats are allocated for parties that represent minority groups. The KDP, which has dominated the support of 11 lawmakers from the minorities, is considered a kingmaker in the Kurdish parliament.
The last parliamentary election, held in September 2018, saw a turnout of 57% and was marred by alleged large-scale voter fraud by the KDP- which dominates Erbil and Duhok provinces- and the PUK- that controls Sulaimaniyah and Halabja provinces.

Embassy in Baghdad said Kurdish authorities must review actions following protest in Sulaimaniyah

Erbil city, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. For years, public anger at the Kurdish regional government has been increasing, prompting protests over unpaid state salaries and Turkish incursions into border areas. Getty Images

Mina Aldroubi

Aug 09, 2022

The US said on Tuesday it was “concerned” about the Iraqi Kurdistan region’s treatment of journalists and activists during a protest this week.

For years, public anger at the Kurdish regional government has been increasing, prompting protests over unpaid state salaries and Turkish incursions into border areas.
Human rights defenders have in the past said rallies have been met with a heavy-handed response from security forces, especially as reporters have been increasingly attacked across the country.
“We are concerned by reports of the use of tear gas and rubber-coated bullets to disperse protesters and the detention of journalists, civil society activists, and members of parliament in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR),” the American Embassy in Baghdad said in a statement.

It follows protests in the northern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah on August 6.
For democracy to be upheld, “governments must safeguard constitutionally protected and universal human rights and freedoms, including freedom of peaceful assembly and demonstration, freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial with due process,” said the statement.
It said journalists must have the right “to do their jobs freely and without interference.”
The embassy urged Kurdish authorities to “review these actions and reaffirm the vital roles that a free press, peaceful assembly and the rule of law play in democracy.”
A report by the UN, published in May, said activists were living in an “environment of fear and intimidation” because of continued attacks against “protesters, persons seeking accountability for these attacks and activists and critics espousing views critical of armed elements and affiliated political actors”.
It said many activists remain relocated inside or outside Iraq out of fear for their safety.

In late 2019, more than 500 people were killed during months of anti-government demonstrations. These erupted under former prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, affecting Baghdad and southern towns including Basra.
More than 7,000 unarmed demonstrators were injured.
In late July, followers of the powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr breached the heavily fortified Green Zone, occupied the parliament building and staged an open-ended sit-in.
They remain in the building, demanding new elections, the dissolution of Parliament and amendments to the constitution, as political infighting stalls a complicated government formation process.

10.08.2022
Delegation Led by Minister of Culture and Youth of Iraqi Kurdistan is in Armenia

a On August 10, the Head of the RA NA Armenia-Iraq Friendship Group Rustam Bakoyan received the delegation led by the Minister of Culture and Youth of the Iraqi Kurdistan Mohammad Said Ali.

The RA NA deputy Knyaz Hasanov, the Consul General of the Republic of Armenia in Erbil Arshak Manukyan took part in the meeting.
Welcoming the guests in parliament, Rustam Bakoyan highlighted the visit of the delegation to Armenia. The MP expressed conviction that it will be effective and will promote the activation of the relations between the two countries. Rustam Bakoyan spoke about the need of exchange of experience in different spheres.
“The Near East Region is very important for us: different nationalities live there, including Armenians and Yazidis,” the Head of Armenia-Iraq Friendship Group underlined.
The Minister of Culture and Youth of the Iraqi Kurdistan thanked Rustam Bakoyan for the reception. Mohammad Said Ali has underscored that during the meetings held in recent days he has noticed that the rights of the national minorities are protected in Armenia. The guest has noted that the Armenian and the Kurdish people have a number of commonalities, similar pages of history. The Minister expressed condolences to the Head of the RA NA Armenia-Iraq Friendship Group on the Yazidis’ genocide in Shangal.
The importance of the work of the representatives of the national minorities in parliaments was touched upon for the benefit of the protection of the interests of the given community and preserving the cultural values.
The sides emphasized the role of the Armenian community of the Iraqi Kurdistan in the public and cultural life of the country.
During the meeting a number of issues related to the deepening of bilateral cooperation were discussed.