Wednesday, 23 October, 2024 , 18:18
Kurdistan Region Parliament
The elections for the renewal of the Kurdistan Parliament took place on October 20 in a calm atmosphere, without any significant incidents.
A total of 2,899,578 voters were called to the polls. The voter turnout was 72%, much higher than in 2018 (58%) and even 2013 (67%), defying predictions by some media reports that suggested disillusionment or democratic fatigue among the population. For the first time in the history of these elections, all voters, equipped with biometric ID cards, were able to vote electronically. As a result, the counting process, which in 2018 took nearly a month, was completed within 24 hours.
The few complaints submitted to the High Electoral Commission concerned minor issues, such as acts of propaganda on the eve or day of the vote in certain localities or the late opening of a polling station.
After reviewing these complaints, the High Electoral Commission announced the official election results on October 21. Unsurprisingly, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), founded in 1946 by Mustafa Barzani, came in first with 809,172 votes, or 39% of the votes cast, securing 39 seats in the 100-seat Parliament, including 5 seats reserved for minorities. In 2008, it had obtained 688,070 votes and 45 seats out of 111. Despite gaining 121,182 additional votes, the party lost 6 seats due to the reduction in the number of seats in Parliament and the new electoral law that divided the autonomous Kurdistan region into 4 electoral provinces instead of a single nationwide constituency. Under the old electoral system, the KDP would have secured 46 seats, according to an analysis by Kurdistan 24 television. The KDP was followed by its historical rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), founded in 1975 by Jalal Talabani, which, with 408,141 votes, or 22% of the votes cast, secured 23 seats, compared to 21 seats in 2018. Over the past four years, it gained approximately 90,000 votes and 2 seats, a progress attributed to the collapse of the Goran (Change) Movement, which was born from a split within the PUK. In 2018, Goran had won 186,903 votes and 12 seats, but in 2024, it garnered only 11,621 votes and a single seat.
However, most of Goran's former electorate and all those dissatisfied with the status quo voted for the New Generation Movement, a populist, anti-establishment catch-all party founded by a wealthy businessman, Shaswar Abdulwahid, who is close to Baghdad. The party saw significant growth from one election to the next, obtaining 290,991 votes, or 16% of the votes cast, and 15 seats, compared to 8 seats in 2018.
The two religious parties, the Kurdistan Islamic Union and the Group for Justice, secured 7 seats (5 seats in 2018) and 3 seats (7 seats in 2018), respectively. The overall electoral influence of these two parties has stagnated or slightly declined, dropping from 12 seats in 2018 to 10 seats in 2024.
A new party, Halwest (National Position), born from Goran, managed to recover some of its disappointed voters, achieving a notable result with 55,775 votes and 4 seats. The People’s Front, formed by Lahur Talabani, former co-president of the PUK who was excluded from the party by his cousin Bafel Talabani, received 33,365 votes, or 2% of the votes cast, and 2 seats. Lastly, the Kurdistan Regional Alliance, which brings together the Kurdistan Social Democratic Party, the Kurdistan Communist Party, and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, fielded 84 candidates but only obtained 12,929 votes and a single seat.
Thirty women were elected to the Kurdistan Parliament.
Several hundred independent candidates ran in the election, but none received enough votes to be elected.
Of the 5 seats reserved for ethno-religious minorities, 2 Assyrian-Chaldean candidates, 2 Turkmen candidates, and 1 Armenian candidate were elected.
On October 22, the People’s Front and the Kurdistan Regional Alliance held a joint press conference to contest the election results. The High Electoral Commission is expected to rule on their appeal soon.
Meanwhile, negotiations for the formation of a coalition government have already begun. A KDP-PUK coalition would have 62 seats, a sufficient majority that could be extended to other parties. Negotiations are expected to be difficult and lengthy, based on the precedent set by the 2018 process.
