Governor calls for "legal solution" to "constitutional vacuum" if no election soon

Shafaq News/ The governor of Sulaymaniyah on Sunday said that a local election should be held as soon as possible in order to address what he called a "constitutional vacuum" in the Kurdistan region.

The other solution, according to the governor, could be a "legal solution".

Haval Abu Bakr told reporters earlier today that he was "in favor of any legal measure that ensures the facilitation of legal and administrative matters and fills the legal vacuum left by the decision to dissolve the governorate councils."

"If the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Change Movement agree to hold local elections in the KRG, I welcome this decision, even if it means that a governor other than me is elected," he added.

The Supreme Federal Court of Iraq, the country's highest judicial authority, issued a ruling on September 24, 2023, ending the work of the KRG's governorate councils after the end of their term.

On the issue of holding the region's parliament elections Accor the "four electoral districts" system, Abu Bakr said that "this [system] came after extensive scientific studies by the relevant authorities, and it was concluded that Sulaymaniyah has the largest share in the parliament."

"Consequently, Sulaymaniyah should be treated as the largest governorate in the region in terms of budget and services."

"The 38 members of the Kurdistan parliament who represent Sulaymaniyah must work to improve the situation in Sulaymaniyah and adopt civil struggle instead of teachers and employees, as they will be the ones representing the province."

Abu Bakr stressed that "it is necessary to prepare for the holding of local elections as soon as possible to solve the legal problems left by the termination of the work of the provincial councils, especially during this period when there is talk of holding the parliament elections."

"So far, there are no new decisions regarding the return of Turkish flights to Sulaymaniyah airport."

He pointed out that "the problem is not administrative or legal, but rather security and intelligence, and flights must be resumed to Sulaymaniyah airport."

In April 2023, Turkey closed its airspace to aircraft travelling to and from the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah due to intensified activity there by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.

Turkish authorities said the closure took effect on April 3 and was expected to remain in force until July 3, 2023. However, the ban is still effective nearly a year later now.