PUK demands dividing the Kurdistan Region into four electoral constituencies

Shafaq News/ The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on Wednesday said that the recent voters' roster showed striking differences from the 2018 roster, calling for partitioning the Kurdistan Region into four electoral districts.

Speaking in a press conference on Wednesday, the head of the PUK bloc in the region's parliament, Ziyad Jabbar, said, "the laws of election and election commission shall muster a consensus, as per the agreement between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and PUK."

"In our previous meetings, we assured that these laws shall be approved by all the parties," he said.

Jabbar said that the Kurdistan Region shall be divided into four electoral districts after updating the voters' list for 2018.

"There is a huge difference between the 2018 roster and the one upon which the Iraqi parliamentary election was held," he elaborated.

Yesterday, the head of the KDP bloc in the parliament of the Kurdistan Region, Khaled Mulla Zana, said in a press conference, "the people of Kurdistan have the right to elect. No party can deprive them of practicing this right."

Zana said that the party supports holding the election prior to the end of the current council's term and it would mobilize its majority if the speaker continues to avoid calling for sessions.

"The current election commission was formed in 2014. Prior to the 2018 election, we called for establishing a new commission, but the other parties refused," he said, "despite our initial rejection to renewing its mandate, we approved the proposal later."

"The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) mustered the backing of 39 MPs for a proposal on the election commission... Again, we approved this proposal after an initial rejection. They retreated their offer later under the pretext that the election commission and election law shall be presented in a single basket."

"It seems that the Parliament Speaker, Rewaz Faiaq, has forgotten that she is in office because of the votes of our KPs and allies. We demand she takes the duties of its position and calls the sessions. Otherwise, we will use our majority."