SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Seven Kurdish parties expressed their support for Kurdistan Coalition in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iraq, they announced on Tuesday.
In a joint statement, they said the parties see the Kurdistan Coalition, formed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Change Movement, as a “historic step” to secure Kurdish people’s rights.
The parties included Kurdistan National Party, Kurdistan Green Party, Kurdistan Razkari Party, Kurdistan Progressive Party, Kurdistan Peaceful Movement, Kurdistan Democratic Movement, and National Reform Movement.
They also called on the Kurdish parties to work as a “united entity” in the Iraqi parliament to secure rights of the Kurdistan Region’s people.
“To create Kurdish unity in Baghdad and to protect Region’s rights, particularly in the disputed territories, we consider the formation of Kurdistan Coalition as a historic step and an important strategy, and the success of that list will protect our rights,” they said in a press conference.
Iraqi voters are to elect a new parliament next Sunday in the fifth such vote since a U.S.-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Two days before polling day, voting will be organized for security forces, displaced citizens and prisoners. This year nationals living abroad will not be voting.
A total of 329 seats are up for grabs in the election, which was moved forward from 2022 as a concession to youth-led pro-democracy protests that erupted in late 2019.
There are fears voter turnout could drop below the 44.5 percent figure registered in 2018.
More than 25 million citizens are eligible to vote. They are supposed to present a biometric card for what was conceived as a fully electronic voting process.
However, some voters have not received the cards and authorities say provisions have been made to ensure they are not excluded.
More than 3,240 candidates are in the running, including 950 women.
One quarter of seats are reserved for female candidates, and nine for minorities including Christians and Yazidis.
A new single-member constituency system is supposed to boost independents and reduce traditional political blocs, largely centered on religious, ethnic and clan affiliations.
