KRG opposition parties reject election results, claim irregularities

Two opposition parties, the Goran Movement and the Kurdistan Islamic Unity Party (Yekgirtu) of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) yesterday rejected the results of the parliamentary election held on Sept.30, claiming electoral irregularities.

Making a statement about the reliability of the election in the autonomous KRG region of northern Iraq, the Goran Movement rejected the official results announced by the election commission that declared the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) as winners. The party stated that the final outcome of the election was announced on Sunday, three weeks after the elections, in order to change vote rates.

Final results were postponed for three weeks after the Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission' statements of electoral violations. The Goran Movement, which has 12 seats in parliament according to the results, claimed that thousands of identity cards were published on election day and stated that they will pursue legal proceedings.

The Kurdistan Islamic Unity Party, which went into the elections with an alliance with the Kurdistan Islamic Movement Party (Bizutnava), lost half of its votes from the last elections, while securing five seats in the parliament, said in a statement that the ruing alliances had manipulated the elections.

The ruling KDP, the party of veteran leader Masoud Barzani, and dominated by the Barzani family, secured its position with 45 seats, while its main rival, former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's party, The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), won 21 seats in the 111-seat parliament. The KRG, with a population of 5 million. gained semi-autonomous status after the 1991 Gulf War. Its politics have been dominated by a KDP and PUK rivalry since than.

Some 3 millions registered voters went to the polls for the Sept. 30 parliamentary elections, with 29 parties and a coalition competing in the elections.