ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s electoral commission is expected to send the final results of the Kurdistan Region’s legislative elections to the region’s presidency on Sunday, pending approval from President Nechirvan Barzani, a commission official told Rudaw .

“The election results will be approved today and sent to the Kurdistan Region presidency with the names of the parliament members,” Nabard Omar, head of the Kurdistan Region election committee at the High Commission, told Rudaw on Sunday Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IHEC). .

Omar said that after President Barzani’s approval, he would request “the formation of the government as soon as possible.”
Approval of the results will follow the first parliamentary session and the inauguration ceremony, with the participation of the President of the Kurdistan Region.

“Within 10 days after the final approval of the election results, the president of the Kurdistan Region will invite the parliament to convene for its first meeting and take the oath of office,” Waadi Mizuri, legal adviser to the parliament, told Rudaw on Friday of Kurdistan.

Alternatively, “parliament could hold its first meeting on the 11th day after the approval of the results,” he added.

The results were supposed to be approved on Tuesday, but they “were delayed due to the census process and the curfew,” Omar said.

The Kurdistan region held its legislative elections on October 20 after two years of delay. The vote resulted in a consolidation of power for the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which won 39 seats, followed by its government ally but political rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) with 32 seats. The opposition New Generation Movement took third place with 15 seats.

Opposition parties Komal, Islamic Union of Kurdistan, Baray Gal and Halwest denounced the election results. They alleged fraud and election manipulation and questioned the reliability of voting machines.

The Iraqi High Judicial Council’s electoral commission informed IHEC last week that it had finalized its review of complaints filed regarding the elections and rejected them all.