Shafaq News – Nineveh
Campaigning is underway in a stable atmosphere in the war-torn district of Sinjar, once overrun by ISIS, as multiple political blocs and minority candidates compete ahead of Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
Khudida Juki, director of the Sinuni subdistrict in Sinjar, confirmed that “electoral campaigns are proceeding in an orderly manner,” noting strong competition among local and national political forces.
Juki explained that the newly formed Yazidi Village Alliance is contesting for the first time with 32 candidates, alongside the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and several national lists. Seven candidates are competing for Sinjar’s single Yazidi minority quota seat. “Some are close to the Popular Mobilization Forces/PMF [a state-affiliated coalition of mostly Shiite armed groups], while others are aligned with the Kurdish Peshmerga,” he clarified.
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The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a force of about 15,000 fighters affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), will take part in the vote but have not endorsed an official candidate, he added, noting that the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) had earlier accredited a political group close to them before later withdrawing its recognition.
Jalal Khallu, from the Sinjar District Administration, confirmed that candidates “are freely visiting villages and subdistricts without any restrictions or incidents,” noting the YBS has fielded one candidate, officially introduced during a rally in Sinjar city.
Sinjar, located in northwestern Iraq near the Syrian border, was overrun by ISIS in 2014, leading to mass killings and the displacement of thousands of residents. More than 25,000 displaced people, mostly Yazidis, still live inside and outside camps in the Kurdistan Region. Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook the district in 2015 before the Iraqi army and the PMF assumed control in 2017. The PKK, which opposes Turkiye, maintains a presence through the YBS, whose fighters receive salaries from the Iraqi government as part of the PMF structure.
Iraq will hold parliamentary elections on November 11, 2025, with more than 21.4 million eligible voters—including over three million in the Kurdistan Region—to elect 329 lawmakers. The general vote will include 20,063,773 citizens across 8,703 centers and 39,285 polling stations, while 1,313,980 security personnel will cast their ballots in the special vote through 809 centers.
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Nineveh province, home to Sinjar, has 2,102,429 voters and holds 34 parliamentary seats, eight reserved for women. Its population includes Sunni Arabs, Yazidis, Christians, Shabak, and Kurds.