Iraq: A Federal Court decision ignites a new dispute between Baghdad and Erbil

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Washington welcomes the announcement of the date of the elections for the Kurdistan Parliament and stresses their integrity

• Time: 08/04/2023 11:52:28
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{Politics: Al Furat News} The US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, welcomed the announcement of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, the date of the elections for the Kurdistan Parliament.

 

"The US Embassy in Baghdad and the US Consulate in Erbil welcome the announcement by the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, of the date for the elections for the Parliament of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region on February 25, 2023," Alina Romanowski said, in a tweet via Twitter, today, Friday.

Ambassador Alina Romanowski stressed that "free, fair and timely elections are essential to any healthy democracy."

 

The spokesman for the Kurdistan Region Presidency, Dilshad Shehab, announced yesterday in a press conference that, "The President of the Kurdistan Region has set February 25, 2024 as the date for holding the elections for the Kurdistan Region Parliament, and this is after conducting consultations and discussions with all political parties in the Kurdistan Region."

Later, the spokeswoman for the Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq, Jumana Al-Ghalai, confirmed that the Commission will start preparations for the holding of parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan Region, after receiving the decree of the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region in this regard, next week.

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Diplomatic missions in Baghdad and Erbil welcome the announcement of the President of the Kurdistan Region, the date of the elections

2023-08-04 05:00

 

Shafaq News/ Diplomatic envoys in Erbil and Baghdad welcomed the announcement of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, the date of the legislative elections in the region. While they expressed their support for holding "free, fair and transparent elections," they called on the political forces in the Kurdistan Region to abide by the deadline for polling day set on February 25, 2024.

 

The US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanovsky, said in a tweet on the social networking sites "X", previously tweeted, that the US Embassy in Baghdad and the US Consulate General in Erbil welcome the announcement by the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, of the date for the elections for the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on February 25, 2024.

 

 

She asserted that free, fair and timely elections are essential to any healthy democracy.

For its part, the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Erbil described setting the election date by the President of the Kurdistan Region as an "important announcement."

Also, we fully support free, fair and inclusive elections to enable all members of the Kurdistan Region to exercise their right to vote.

 

Yesterday, Thursday, the United Kingdom welcomed the decision of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, to hold parliamentary elections on February 25 of next year, calling for free, fair and comprehensive elections to be held without delay.

 

In this regard, the Ambassador of the European Union in Baghdad, Fili Fariola, said: Yesterday, during my farewell trip to the Kurdistan Region, I had a very good meeting with Mr. Nechirvan Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region.

 

He added, "I welcomed setting the date for the Kurdistan Region elections on February 25, and now all parties must cooperate to make the process a success."

 

In the midst of this, the Italian Embassy in Baghdad welcomed the announcement of the date of the elections for the Kurdistan Regional Parliament on February 25, 2024 by President Nechirvan Barzani.

 

In a statement, the embassy called for free and fair elections, stressing that the right to vote is the main pillar of democracy and a good opportunity for the citizens of the Kurdistan Region to make their voices heard.

 

As for the French Vice Consul in Erbil, Rodolphe Richard, the presidential decree to set the date for the parliamentary elections in Kurdistan is a "big step."

 

He said in a statement today: It is important that all relevant parties and political parties work together for an electoral process that meets international standards.

 

The Canadian Consulate in Erbil also welcomed the announcement of the election date, and said:

 

We encourage all forces and parties to intensify their efforts to support transparent, free and fair elections.

 

Yesterday, Thursday, the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, issued a regional decree to hold the elections for the Kurdistan Parliament in its sixth session on February 25 of the year 2024.

 

Dilshad Shihab, spokesman for the Presidency of the region, said in a press conference in which he read the decree, that "based on the provisions of Paragraph Two of Article Ten of the amended Kurdistan Region Presidency Law No. (1) of 2005, we have drawn what comes first: February 25, 2024 is set as a date To hold general elections for the Parliament of Kurdistan - Iraq for its sixth session.

 

"Secondly, the relevant authorities must cooperate and coordinate with the Independent High Electoral Commission to implement this decree," according to the spokesman, who said, "This decree is implemented from the date of its issuance and published in the Official Gazette."

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Salary crisis.. Erbil holds Baghdad responsible again and hopes for a "promised" economic movement

sweeteners |Today, 12:27 |

    

 

Baghdad today - Erbil

While tension escalates between Erbil and Baghdad over the latter's refusal to transfer the salaries of the region's employees by a decision of the Federal Supreme Court, the former deputy head of the Finance Committee in the dissolved Kurdistan Parliament, Hvidar Ahmed, confirmed today, Saturday (August 5, 2023), that the federal government is obligated to send the full share of the Kurdistan Region from the budget. 

 

Ahmed told "Baghdad Today" that "the Baghdad government is obligated to send the Kurdistan region's full share of the budget, including the salaries of employees, and therefore the regional government will distribute the salaries of its employees periodically and regularly."

 

He added, "The fluctuation and delay in the process of paying salaries is borne by the federal government, as it did not fulfill its commitment to the region," noting that "after sending the budget dues that Parliament voted on, the economic movement will revive again, after the paralysis that afflicted it over the past years." 

 

The old new crisis 

 

The Baghdad government is facing a new crisis with the Kurdistan government regarding the salaries of the region's employees, with which there is fear of protests and security unrest in the Kurdish street. 

 

Tensions escalated with the decision of the Federal Supreme Court to prevent the transfer of salaries to employees of the region, and the decision included the cancellation of all government decisions to transfer funds to Kurdistan, and attributed its decision to its commitment to the supreme interest of the homeland, and that it does not target a specific group .

 

This is happening against the background of an old crisis between the federal government and the regional government, where an agreement was reached regarding the transfer of oil resources in the region to Baghdad, in exchange for it paying the salaries of the region's employees, while accusations were raised of the Kurdistan administration's non-compliance with that.

 

 

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Commission: Preparing an operational schedule for the regional parliament elections

• Time: 08/09/2023 12:50:48
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{Politics: Al Furat News} The Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq announced the preparation of an operational schedule for the Kurdistan Region Parliament elections.

"The Council of Commissioners discussed today the Kurdistan Region's letter from the Chief of Staff," said Jumana Al-Ghalai, a spokeswoman for the commission, in a press statement.

And she explained, "After deliberation among the members of the Board of Commissioners, the Council decided to assign the Electoral Administration to prepare an operational schedule for the elections of the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which was scheduled to be held on February 25, 2024, and the Commission will start establishing the operational schedule."

It is noteworthy that the spokesman for the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region, Dilshad Shehab, announced in a press conference on the second of August, that "the President of the Kurdistan Region has set February 25, 2024 as the date for holding the elections for the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region, and this is after conducting consultations and discussions with all political parties in the Kurdistan Region." .

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In the document, the Electoral Commission allows changing voter data (unification)

• Time: 08/11/2023 12:26:07
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{Politics: Al Furat News} The Electoral Commission decided to allow changing voter data {unification}.
And according to the Commission’s decision, which {Euphrates News} received a copy of, it was allowed to change the data of the wife or children with her husband’s registration of {unification} from one governorate to another after verifying their data in the assistance program
. Kirkuk Governorate.  

 

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National Union: We wanted to unite the Kurds in the disputed areas

Kurdistan

13:29 - 2023-08-09

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan made great efforts and made huge sacrifices to unify the position of the Kurds and their participation in the provincial elections in the disputed areas with one list. Unfortunately, the Kurdistan Democratic Party caused the dispersion of the position of the Kurds and the loss of their votes in the disputed areas, due to the multiplicity of their electoral lists.

The efforts of the Patriotic Union were to unite the Kurds.
Hassiba Abdullah, a member of the Leadership Council of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said during a special statement to the official website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUKMEDIA: The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was still the initiator of dialogue with political parties to unify the Kurdish house and participate in the provincial elections with one list.

And she added: The situation in the disputed areas is different from what is in the Kurdistan Region, and it is very important for the Kurds to be united in the disputed areas.

The Patriotic Union did not set any conditions. Hasiba Abdullah says: The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has made every effort not to lose the votes of the Kurds and reduce the percentage of their seats.

And she added: The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan did not have any preconditions, but rather conducted dialogue with all other Kurdish parties in a spirit of responsibility and brotherhood, but unfortunately one political party is the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which has become a reason for the failure of the single list project for the Kurds in the disputed areas.

Multiple lists
Hassiba Abdullah says: The Kurds in Kirkuk will participate in the upcoming elections with multiple lists, and this is a great disaster because a large percentage of the electoral votes will be lost due to the multiplicity of lists.
She said: We hold the Kurdistan Democratic Party responsible for the loss of Kurdish votes in the disputed areas and the decrease in the percentage of Kurdish seats in the provincial councils. And the struggle and sacrifices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan for them.

The Elections Institution: The Patriotic Union’s efforts were to unify the Kurdish parties
The Elections Institution of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan issued a statement about the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s endeavor to have the Kurds participate with a unified list in the provincial elections in the disputed areas.

The Elections Institution said in the statement: After the efforts and strenuous efforts of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan for the people of Kurdistan to participate in the upcoming elections in the disputed areas with one list, unfortunately, the Kurds will participate with multiple lists in the elections that are scheduled to take place on 12/18/2023.

The statement added: The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was and still is the initiator of bringing together the Kurdish parties within the framework of a single list and did not place any condition or veto on any party, but for the sake of unity and the joint list of the Kurds in the disputed areas, it showed the greatest possible flexibility and made great sacrifices, but in In the end, all efforts were in vain, and the Kurds will participate in the elections with multiple lists.

And the Elections Foundation explained: The people of the other components in those areas, especially Kirkuk, have organized themselves and view the elections with importance and will participate unifiedly in them, because the current system of elections is in the interest of large alliances, and the multiplicity of lists will lead to the loss of a large number of votes.

The statement said: We in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan will participate in the provincial council elections through our alliance with the Communist Party, and reassure the masses of the people of Kurdistan in general and the steadfast masses in the disputed areas in particular, that we will celebrate the victory of the Kurds on 12/18/2023, depending on the will Steel for the steadfast masses, and we will work to restore the stolen rights of the people of the disputed areas.

[yota691]

Kurdish parties are running in the disputed local elections in Baghdad with 4 main lists

 

August 15, 2023

Baghdad / Obelisk Al-Hadath: 4 major Kurdish electoral alliances are competing in cities outside the Kurdistan region, which are called “disputed areas” in addition to Baghdad. On the other hand, no Kurdish alliance was registered in Diyala, as individual Kurdish parties are expected to run in the local elections there, which are scheduled to take place before the end of this year.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party, which recently entered into understandings with Kurdish parties and with Baghdad, expects to achieve important results in Kirkuk and Nineveh.

More than 3,000 candidates are supposed to participate in the local elections that will be held on December 18 in 15 governorates.

The Electoral Commission decided to extend the registration period for individual candidates until August 20, instead of the old date, which ended on the 13th of the same month.

As of last Sunday, the commission had registered only about 40 individual candidates, according to statements by commission officials.

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The Commission determines the counting and sorting mechanism in the Kurdistan Parliament elections

• Time: 2023/10/11 14:11:04
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{Politics: Al-Furat News} The Independent High Electoral Commission has determined the mechanism for conducting counting and sorting in the Kurdistan Regional Parliament elections, scheduled for the twenty-fifth of next February.

 

Commission spokeswoman Jumana Al-Ghalai said in a press statement, “In order to ensure the integrity of the electoral process in the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Parliament elections on February 25, 2024, the Board of Commissioners decided to conduct manual counting and sorting for all polling stations, and in the same polling stations, after the end of the electronic counting and sorting and printing phase.” Reporting the results, for the purpose of matching the results of electronic and manual counting and sorting.”

 

Jumana Al-Ghalai added: “If the results of the electronic and manual counting and sorting are identical, the results of the electronic counting and sorting will be approved.”

She noted that "in the event of a discrepancy between the results of the electronic counting and sorting and the manual counting and sorting at the same polling station by less than 5% of the valid papers inside the box, the results of the manual counting and sorting at the station will be approved."

 

Al-Ghalai pointed out that “if the results of the electronic counting and sorting do not match the results of the manual counting and sorting by 5% or more of the total valid papers inside the box, the station will be transferred to the central audit center in the governorate, for the purpose of auditing the station and re-counting and manual sorting, and the Commission approves the results.” Manual counting and sorting of ballot papers at the governorate’s audit center.”

 

She continued, "If the results are not sent by the electronic counting and sorting device via the transmission medium to the results tabulation center in the National Office after 6 hours have passed from the end of the polling time, those boxes will be transferred to the central audit center in the governorate to audit the station and repeat the manual counting and sorting process." The Commission approves the results of the manual counting and sorting of ballot papers.