SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is determined to amend the Kurdistan Region’s electoral law, the party’s bloc in the parliament said on Tuesday.
Deputy head of PUK’s bloc in Kurdistan Parliament Luqman Wardi said heads of the parliamentary blocs would hold a session on Wednesday to discuss the resumption of parliament’s sessions.
He further said the PUK, Change Movement, Kurdistan Islamic Union, Kurdistan Justice Group, New Generation and independent lawmakers wanted to amend the electoral law adopted 30 years ago.
In February, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani set October 1 as the date for parliamentary elections in the Region.
“The PUK is determined to amend the electoral law,” Wardi told Esta Media Network. “The elections will be held after the electoral system is changed to multi-constituency, seats for minorities are settled, and the voter registration is cleansed.”
Earlier, parliament’s deputy speaker Hemn Hawrami said amendments to the Region’s electoral law required “open and precise discussion”.
“If all parties want to have their demands to meet in amending the electoral law, we won’t reach a result and the law won’t be amended,” he added.
On Monday, U.N. envoy to Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert invited representatives of the Kurdish parties for a “joint closed meeting” on Thursday to exchange their views on the parliamentary elections.
“With the KR [Kurdistan Region] elections scheduled for 1 October 2022, this meeting provides a welcome and timely opportunity for a direct exchange of views,” she said in a tweet.
