KDP ends PUK’s 22-year hold on Khanaqin

Shafaq News – Diyala

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) captured the Khanaqin seat held by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) for five consecutive terms, preliminary results in Diyala showed.

Political sources told Shafaq News on Thursday that the KDP secured the seat through its alliance with the al-Azm list, enabling it to surpass the PUK for the first time since 2003. Kurdish fragmentation and competition among PUK-aligned Shiite and Kurdish parties, they added, further undercut the PUK, costing it a seat long deemed untouchable.

Observers attributed the PUK’s loss to unpopular candidate choices, internal divisions, and fractured voting across multiple nominees, eroding its support in the Kurdish-majority district. Despite receiving fewer than 10,000 votes, the KDP’s organized mobilization was enough to clinch its first seat in Diyala.

The Independent High Electoral Commission’s (IHEC) Diyala office Director Ali Karim told our agency that the results, however, remain preliminary until certification, noting that six stations—holding 1,940 general-vote ballots and 299 special-vote ballots—have yet to upload results due to technical issues. These will be sent early next week, with final outcomes expected by week’s end.

IHEC’s initial tally placed the Badr Organization first in the province, followed by Taqaddum in second and the National Sovereignty Alliance (Tahaluf Siyada al-Watani) in third.

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