Parliamentary elections were held in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 21 September 2013. They were the fourth parliamentary elections in Kurdistan Region since 1992. The candidates were competing for a total of 111 seats out of which 11 seats were reserved for minorities. According to the Iraqi High Electoral Commission, there were 366 female and 736 male candidates for the elections.
A total of 2,653,743 people were eligible to vote throughout the three provinces of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Duhok of which 74% cast their ballots.
Run-up The legislative elections together with presidential and provincial were originally planned for September 21, but however, in the months leading to the elections the parliament extended Massoud Barzani’s term for another two years. Meanwhile, IHEC delayed the provincial elections until November 21. Under Kurdish election law, political parties were allowed to campaign from August 28 until September 17th, four days before voting. The Peshmerga and police voted on September 19, in order for them to be able to guard the voting polls on September 21.
The election marked the first time the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) were running as individual parties since 1992. The KDP was expected to win the most votes with the party having a strong backing in the provinces of Duhok and Erbil and no challengers. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan meanwhile was facing competition from the Movement for Change. The Movement for Change had in the previous elections secured a surprising 25 seats in Sulaymaniyah, which had until then been a stronghold for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan also faced uncertainty due to internal conflicts and the absence of its leader Jalal Talabani who was recovering from a stroke.
Clashes On 5 September, a gunman opened fire on a campaign rally by the Movement for Change in the city of Sulaymaniyah, wounding one person. In the same week, clashes broke out between the opposition Movement for Change and the PUK and KDP supporters that led to 12 people, mostly policemen, being wounded.
Notable participating parties List No Party Kurdish Name Party Leaders 101 Kurdistan Islamic Movement بزوتنەوەی ئیسلامیی کوردستانBizûtinewey Îslamiy Kurdistan Shaykh Uthman Abd-Aziz 102 Patriotic Union of Kurdistan یەکێتیی نیشتمانیی کوردستانYekêtiy Nîştimaniy Kurdistan Jalal Talabani 103 Kurdistan Conservative Party پارتی پارێزگارانی کوردستانPartî Parêzgaranî Kurdistan Zaid Surchi 104 Kurdistan Islamic Group کۆمەڵی ئیسلامی کوردستان-عێراقKomelley Îslamiy Kurdistaê / Îraq Ali Bapir 105 Kurdistan Islamic Union یەکگرتووی ئیسلامیی کوردستانYekgirtûy Îslamiy Kurdistan Mohammed Faraj 106 Reform and Development List لیستی چاکسازی و گەشەLîstî Çaksazî u Geşe 107 Communist Party of Kurdistan – Iraq (Freedom List) ئازادیPartî Azadî Kamal Shakir 108 Future Party ئایندەHizbî Ayinde 109 Democratic National Union of Kurdistan یەکێتی نەتەوەیی دیموکراتی کوردستان Yekêtiy Neteweyiy Dîmukratî Kurdistan 110 Kurdistan Democratic Party Massoud Barzani 111 Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party حزبی سۆسیالیست دیموکراتی کوردستانHizbî Sosyal Dîmukratî Kurdistan Mohammad Hajji Mahmoud 113 Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party پارتی چارەسەری دیموکراتی کوردستان Partî Çareserî Dîmukratî Kurdistan Diyar Gharib and Nadjibeh Umar 115 Third Direction ئاڕاستەی سێیەمArrastey Sêyem 116 People'e Rights' List مافی گەلLîstî Mafî Gel 117 Gorran Movement گۆڕانBizûtinewey Gorran Nawshirwan Mustafa 118 The Rights of People of Kurdistan لیستی مافەکانی خەڵکی کوردستانMafekanî Xellkî Kurdistan 119 The Independents لیستی سەربەخۆکانSerbexokan 120 Turkmen Change and Renewal گۆڕان و نوێبوونەوەی تورکمانGorran u Nwêbûnewey Turkman 121 Erbil Turkmen List لیستی ھەولێری تورکمانیLîstî Turkmanî Hewlêr 122 Iraqi Turkmen Front بەرەی تورکمانی عێراقیBerey Turkmanî Êraq Sadettin Ergeç 123 Turkmen Democratic Movement لیستی بزووتنەوەی دیموکراتی تورکمانLîstî Bizûtinewey Dîmukratî Turkman 124 Turkmen Development List لیستی پێشکەوتووی تورکمانLîstî Pêşkewtûy Turkman 126 Assyrian Democratic Movement لیستی میسۆپۆتامیاKurranî Dû Rûbareke Yonadam Kanna 127 Chaldean Syriac Assyrian United List لیستی کۆمەڵەی کلدان و سریان و ئاشوورییەکانGirdbûnewey Kildanî Siryanî Aşûrî Sarkis Aghajan
Results
No party won enough votes to form a government outright. The Kurdistan Democratic Party won the most votes in Erbil and Duhok. The province of Sulaymaniyah was heavily divided. The Movement for Change won the second most votes which made it the prime partner for the KDP to form a coalition with. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, unexpectedly, lost more than a third of its seats.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan announced that it respected the results and soon after the announcement, a high-ranking member of the party resigned and accepted responsibility for the results. Both Islamists and socialists made gains. A total of 77 men and 34 women were elected.
Results by governorate Party Sulaymaniyah Erbil Dohuk Total Kurdistan Democratic Party 92,500 340,668 310,816 743,984 Patriotic Union of Kurdistan 234,252 91,072 25,176 350,500 Gorran Movement 333,961 130,000 12,775 476,736 Kurdistan Islamic Union 84,081 46,000 56,660 186,741 Kurdistan Islamic Group 67,285 46,300 4,814 118,399 Others 6,401 52,448 33,566 92,415 Total: 818,480 706,488 443,807 1,968,775
References
External links Official Full results