The Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections of 2009 took place on 25 July 2009. A total of 2.5 million citizens of Kurdistan Region were eligible to vote for the parliamentary and presidential elections.[1] People currently living outside Kurdistan Region were not allowed to vote.[2] The elections followed the 2005 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election. The parliamentary elections coincided with the direct election of the President of Kurdistan. Unlike the parliamentary elections in 2005, the president of Kurdistan was to be chosen directly through popular votes. A referendum to approve the constitution of Kurdistan Region originally planned for the same day was put back to 1 August.[1]
Campaigning for the elections officially started on 22 June 2009 and was to be stopped 48 hours before voting started.[3] The elections were held with 84 registration centers and 5,403 polling stations in Kurdistan Region and 5 polling stations in Baghdad.
The elections were originally scheduled to take place on 19 May, but were delayed until 25 July.[6]
Minorities
Eleven of the 111 seats are reserved for minorities. Five are reserved for Assyrians, five for Turkmen, and one for Armenians.[7] The Assyrian seats will be contested by four lists, the Turkmen seats by four as well and the Armenian seat by three individuals.[8][9]
Voting system
The voting system to be used is the closed list system, as was used for the 2005 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election. The open list system had been introduced for the 2009 Iraqi governorate elections elsewhere in Iraq, and the decision to stay with a closed list was criticised by members of the Kurdistan National Assembly who argued open lists strengthened the relationship between voters and candidates and reduced corruption.[10]
At least 30% of the candidates on each list must be female.[8]
Led by Dr. Muhammad Saleh Hama Faraj, who lived in exile in the UK from 1980 to 2008. Dr. Faraj promised to separate government from the political parties, strengthen an independent, non-corrupt and just judiciary, and that if he becomes a member of parliament he will demand a rewrite of the constitution.
The party's main agenda is gaining independence for Greater Kurdistan, which includes territories of Turkey, Iran and Syria. The party had close ties with the PKK in the 1990s. In 2005, the party was part of the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan(DPAK) coalition and received 1 seat. It is led by Ghafur Makhmuri.
Founded in 2005 by the Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bulani.
53
Kurdistan Toilers and Workers list
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The Kurdistan Toilers and Workers Party List promised it would work to improve justice and the rule of law in the region. The Party has been working as an organization for 14 years.
An alliance between the two largest parties, who held 59 of the 111 seats in the parliament. They are seen as broadly center-left to centrist parties. The list is led by Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani.
These parties are left-wing oriented in ideology. Their main concern is to keep Iraqi Kurdistan secular. KCP was part of the DPAK alliance in 2005 and received 3 seats. KTP won one seat in the 2005 elections independently.
Considered to be the main opposition to the Kurdistani List, particularly in areas dominated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan(PUK). Most of its members, including the leader Nawshirwan Mustafa, are ex-PUK officials. It was running mainly to address what it saw as corruption and nepotism undertaken by the KDP and PUK.
Founded in 1979, it is led by Shaykh Uthman Abd-Aziz and gets most of its support in-and-around the city of Halabja. While it has not officially forced Sharia law in its controlling territory, the party does want Islamic law to be the main source for the constitution.
KIU considers itself as "Islamic reformative" and has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. In the 2005 elections, it joined DPAK alliance and won 9 seats. IGK was formed after some members split from the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan (#58) in 2001 and is rumored to have some ties with Iran. It came second to the DPAK alliance in the 2005 elections and won 6 seats in the parliament. Its leader Ali Bapir was imprisoned by the US forces between 2003 and 2005 on allegations of attacking coalition forces and aiding Ansar Al Islam. Future Party was recently created by Qadir Aziz who was sacked as the leader of the Kurdistan Toiler's Party for not being "committed to the party." KSDP was part of the DPAK alliance in 2005 and received 2 seats.
60
Independent Youths List
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The Independent Youth List is headed by Hiwa Abdul-Karim Aziz (known as Hiwa Fryad Ras), a 30-year-old journalist. The list consists of 10 people, made up of lawyers, university teachers and journalists who promised to make the Kurdistan Regional Parliament more active and give more attention to youth issues.
A tribal affiliated party. It is mostly made of the Surchi clan and is led by Zaid Surchi. The clan has clashed with the KDP on numerous occasions. It only received 5,500 votes in the 2005 elections.
62
Progression List
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Headed by Halo Ibrahim Ahmed, a former high ranking PUK official. He is Jalal Talabani's brother in law and was running for the presidential elections as well.
Its main objective is to designate Chaldean Catholics a separate ethnicity from the rest of Assyrians. The two parties have strong ties to the Chaldean Catholic Church. CDUP was part of the DPAK alliance in 2005 and received one seat.
KACP is the Assyrian branch of the Kurdistan Communist Party (#55) and its stronghold is in Ankawa. APP's secretary general, Nimrod Baito, is currently KRG's tourism minister. The list's main goal is to absorb the Nineveh Plains into Iraqi Kurdistan region and have autonomy for it.
Founded by Sarkis Aghajan, a high ranking KDP official. It is headed by Jamil Zayto. The party is seen as an "Assyrian/Christian branch" of the KDP. It has publicly endorsed Masoud Barzani in the presidential elections.[13]
Created in 2004 by ex-members of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, believing having closer ties to the KRG instead of Turkey would serve the community better. It wants Kirkuk to be annexed by Iraqi Kurdistan.[14] The party receives funds from the KDP and was part of the DPAK alliance in the 2005 elections, which led to it receiving 4 seats.
70
Erbil's Turkmen List
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This list is led by five well-known Turkmen persons in Erbil: Sherdil Tahsin Arsalan, Ta'fa Rostam Qasab, Thaura Saleh, Nafeh Rostam and Ahtham Abdul Karim. The List wants Kirkuk to be part of the Kurdish region, and they are against Turkey's interference in Turkmen affairs.
71
Independent Turkment List
This list is headed by Kanhan Shakir Aziz; the list says Turkmen are the majority in Kirkuk and that it should be an independent region.
72
Turkmen Rerform List
Movement of the Independent Turkmen (an affiliate of the Iraqi Turkmen Front)
Headed by Kan'an Shakir Aziz, the party's main objective is to not have Kirkuk be annexed by Kurdistan Region.[15]
During the campaign, the electoral commission was reported to have fined the Kurdistani List 3 million riyals for unspecified electoral violations.[16]
A poll of 1,000 people by the Kurdistan-based Point Organization for Opinion Polls & Strategic Studies found most thought the Change List would pose a serious challenge but 49% thought the Kurdistani List would use "threats and fraud".[17]
The Change List has accused the ruling parties of sacking regional government employees who had links to their party. They also claimed that a colonel in the peshmerge regional army had been arrested for supporting them. A Kurdistani List candidate responded by saying "No party allows its members to vote for another list".[17] The Progress List also accused regional intelligence agents of threatening to kill their supporters.[18] Supporters of the change List were shot at in Kifri.[18]
Supporters of the Kurdistani and Change Lists clashed in Sulaimaniyah and were separated by police wielding taser guns.[18]
Initial reports gave the Kurdistani List 60 percent of the vote, equating to around 55 seats. The Change List claimed it had won around 28 seats.[19]
According to the Los Angeles Times, "Change mounted a spirited challenge to the monopoly on power of the two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, making this the first competitive election the semiautonomous enclave has seen. Turnout was put at 78.5%, an indication of the enthusiasm the contest has generated among Kurds."[20][21]
The following tables show the results of the parliamentary and presidential votes by party and by presidential candidate.[22] Seats in yellow indicate reserved minority seats.
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