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Iraqi Kurdistan president sets July 25 as
date for holding parliamentary polls
5.5.2009
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May 5, 2009
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq' —
President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Massoud Barzani on
Tuesday set July 25 as the date for parliamentary
elections in the region.
“I call on everyone to respect the political
diversity and urge the people of Kurdistan to widely
participate in the elections…,” Barzani said in a
speech before the Parliament Tuesday.
The president also called on government institutions
to cooperate with the Independent High Electoral
Commission (IHEC) to “render the electoral process a
success.”
The media advisor of the Kurdistan Parliament’s
speaker,www.ekurd.net
Tariq Jawhar, Monday
said that the Kurdistan Parliament on Tuesday will
host President Barzani, who will announce the date
of the forthcoming elections in a speech to
parliamentarians. |
Massoud Barzani, the president of the autonomous
Kurdistan region speaking at the Kurdish parliament |
During a session in
April, the Parliament authorized the region’s
president to set the date of parliamentary
elections. Parliamentary polls in autonomous region
were scheduled to be held on May 19, but were
postponed due to the Parliament’s endorsement of the
amended law on elections.
The last time elections to Kurdistan's parliament
were held in 2005 the two main parties -- the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani and the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) led by Kurdistan president
Massoud Barzani -- formed a joint list that won 80
of the 111 seats.
Ten seats are reserved for the region's Turkmen,
Christian and Yazidi minorities. The Islamic Union
of Kurdistan won nine seats, the more radical
Islamic Group of Kurdistan gained six seats, and
three smaller left-wing parties won the remainder.
The Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq,
which supervised the country's provincial council
elections in January, will oversee the vote and has
certified 41 political entities, with one final
application pending.
Those registered include a breakaway faction from
the PUK, the
"Change" list led by Talabani's former
deputy Nawshirwan Mustafa. His is a rare challenge
to the decades-old political powerhouse that has
alarmed PUK leaders.
Nawshirwan Mustafa, a former deputy leader
and co-founder of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's
party,www.ekurd.net
the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, says he plans to head a political group
of independents called
"Change" in the region's
upcoming parliamentary elections.
"We want to change this political system," said
Mustafa, adding he would campaign on promises to
battle corruption and improve the lives of the
region's population.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
Aswat Al Iraq | AFP |
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