Hoda Jassim (Baghdad)
Yesterday, the Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq announced the suspension of its work on holding parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, in implementation of a judicial ruling issued by the Federal Supreme Court.
Commission spokeswoman Jumana Al-Ghalai said in a statement that the Board of Commissioners decided, based on the ruling of the Federal Supreme Court, to suspend work on the technical and financial procedures for the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament elections until another case pending before the court is resolved.
The Prime Minister of the region, Masrour Barzani, filed a lawsuit with the court demanding that the division of electoral districts scheduled to be voted on be declared unconstitutional until a decision is issued in the lawsuit by issuing a state order to stop and suspend the procedures of the Independent High Electoral Commission related to the Kurdistan Parliament elections.
Accordingly, the Federal Supreme Court, the highest judicial body in Iraq, ruled the day before yesterday to halt the implementation of the procedures for the system of registering and approving candidate lists for the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Parliament elections scheduled for next June 10 until another lawsuit related to the elections is resolved.
The court said in a statement, “The decision was made to avoid the consequences of its implementation that will be difficult to remedy in the future.”
The Presidency of Iraqi Kurdistan set June 10 as the date for the parliamentary elections in the region, which were scheduled for February, after they were repeatedly postponed as a result of political differences. However, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the largest Kurdish party and the ruling party in the region, announced its boycott of the elections.
It is noteworthy that the Iraqi Federal Court issued a decision in February in which it limited the number of members of the regional parliament to 100 members instead of 111 members, in addition to handing over the management of the region’s elections to the High Election Commission as an alternative to the region’s Election Commission.
The last parliamentary elections were held in the region in 2018, in which the Kurdistan Democratic Party won 38 seats, the Change Movement came second with 24 seats, while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan came third with 18 seats.
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