Shafaq News / The Iraqi parliament voted early Monday to maintain the current number of seats in the next parliament at 329. The parliament also voted on the distribution of seats as follows:

A- 320 seats allocated to the provinces.

B- The following components will be allocated a share of the total number of public seats in the parliament without affecting their share in the event of participation in the public lists. The allocation will be as follows:

1. Christian component: 5 seats distributed among Baghdad, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Dohuk, and Erbil.

3. Yazidi component: 1 seat in Nineveh governorate.

5. Sabean-Mandaean component: 1 seat in Baghdad governorate.

7. Shabak component: 1 seat in Nineveh governorate.

8. Faily Kurd component: 1 seat in Wasit governorate.

C- The governorate that has been allocated a seat from the component quota will have one electoral district to represent the quota seat in the parliament according to its administrative boundaries.

The parliament also voted that candidates for public lists must have a bachelor's degree or its equivalent, except for the component quotas, where a high school diploma or its equivalent is sufficient. The parliament has also allocated a maximum percentage of 20% of candidates holding a diploma or equivalent from the community sectors to the electoral lists.

The parliament further voted that candidates with a criminal record, including administrative and financial corruption cases, as stipulated in articles 330, 333, 334, 335, 336, 338, 339, and 340 of Penal Code No. 111 of 1969, as amended, are not eligible to run for elections, whether they have been granted amnesty or not.

Previously, the parliament had voted to hold the provincial council elections on November 6, 2023, during a session that began early Monday to vote on the third amendment to the Law of Elections of the Council of Representatives, Provincial Councils, and District Councils No. 12 of 2018.