KRG postpones elections due to referendum turmoil

Presidency and parliament elections – slated for November 1 – have been delayed as political parties failed to present candidates, the electoral commission announces on Monday.

A picture of Massoud Barzani, the President of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government, and a Kurdish flag are displayed as Kurdish security forces stand guard in Altun Kupri, on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq, October 19, 2017. (Photo AP)
AP

A picture of Massoud Barzani, the President of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government, and a Kurdish flag are displayed as Kurdish security forces stand guard in Altun Kupri, on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq, October 19, 2017. (Photo AP)

Elections for Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) presidency and parliament set for November 1 will be delayed because political parties failed to present candidates, the head of the electoral commission Hendrean Mohammed said on Monday.

Parties have been unable to focus on the elections because of turmoil that followed a referendum on September 25 on KRG's independence, a Kurdish MP said on condition of anonymity.

Last week, Iraqi forces captured the oil city of Kirkuk and other territory claimed by the Kurds in retaliation for the referendum, dealing a severe blow to KRG President Massoud Barzani.

TRT World's Iolo ap Dafyff reports from Erbil.

Loading...

Political turmoil

The electoral commission's Mohammed, speaking by phone from the KRG capital Erbil, in northern Iraq, said it is up to the KRG's parliament to fix a new date for the elections.

The deadline to present candidates expired last week and was extended until Monday.

The current KRG presidency, held by Barzani since 2005, and parliament, elected in 2013, are expected to continue until new votes are held, he said.

The loss of Kirkuk prompted calls from Gorran, the main opposition party to Barzani, for his resignation.

Gorran, or the Change Movement, supports the right of Iraq's KRG for self-determination but it opposed holding the referendum on September 25, saying the timing was ill-chosen. 

On September 25, Iraqis in KRG-controlled areas – and in areas disputed between Baghdad and Erbil – voted on whether or not to declare full political autonomy from Iraq.

According to poll results announced by the KRG, almost 93 percent voted in favor of independence.

The referendum, which the Iraqi government has labelled unconstitutional, faced sharp opposition from most regional and international actors including the US, Turkey and Iran, who had warned that the poll would distract from Iraq’s fight against terrorism and further destabilize the already-volatile region.

In response to last month’s referendum, the Iraqi armed forces in recent days have been deployed in Kirkuk and other disputed areas following the withdrawal of pro-KRG Peshmerga forces.

Call from Moscow

Russia respects the desire of Iraq's KRG to assert its identity, but this must be done in dialogue with the Iraqi government, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday at talks with his Iraqi government counterpart.

"We understand the hopes of the Kurdish people as it concerns their striving to strengthen their identity, their self-awareness," Lavrov said at a news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari.

"However, we believe it is correct to realise those desires, those hopes exclusively via the Iraqi government and taking fully into account the significance the Kurdish question has on a regional scale, and taking into account the need to avoid additional sources of instability in the region."

Lavrov was meeting Jaafari days after Russian state oil major Rosneft agreed to take control of KRG's main oil pipeline. Iraqi oil minister Jabar al Luaibi said on Saturday he had sought clarification from Rosneft.

Lavrov said Russia would continue its economic ties with Iraq's KRG, as it does with other constituent parts of Iraq.

He said Russia was not closing its consulate in Erbil, the main city in the KRG, but said the mission was subordinate to the Russian embassy in Baghdad.

Route 6