SULAIMANI (ESTA) — At least 12 legislators from the Kurdistan Region parliament announced their resignation from different factions on Sunday after the legislative chamber recently voted for the extension of the 5th parliamentary and postponement of the general elections.
The protesting legislators announced their resignation in a press conference before the chamber. The complete MPs from the Kurdistan Justice Group (KJG) as well as New Generation Movement (NGM) resigned officially.
Moreover, part of the Gorran or Change Movement along with the independent MPs joined the protest movement, according to the press conference.
They called the Kurdistan Region parliament “illegitimate” from now on since its legal term was finished on Sunday, November, 6. However, a while back, the chamber by the majority of votes decided to extend its term and postponed the general elections.
The voting extended the parliamentary term for an extra year whereas the Region was supposed to hold elections on October, 1 this year, but it has been postponed to December 2023.
Parliamentary elections are held every four years in the Kurdistan Region. The last held parliamentary elections were in September 2018.
Apart from this, Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) has immediately withdrawn for the same reason recently.
The KIU called the extension “illegal”, leaving five of its seats vacant.
The protesting MPs have further labeled the Kurdistan Region’s top institutions as they lost their legitimacy, including both the Presidency and Primer’s office, etc.
“The term of the Region’s Presidency and Primer’s offices, as well as the provincial councils including the commission of the elections like the legislative chamber, have lost their legitimacy,” KJG resigned MP AbdulStar Majid told the reporters amid the press conference.
“We did not partake in such illegal work,” he quoted.
Furthermore, Majid stressed that they cooperate and work to hold the elections as soon as possible.
Back then, The Region’s parliament justified why they passed such a controversial bill, explaining that it was to prevent legal, and constitutional gaps and preserve national unity with further preparation for the next general elections, according to their words.
