Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government Nechirvan Barzani has set September 30 as the final date for holding legislative elections, which were supposed to take place last October.
Military and political repercussions that followed the failed Kurdish independence referendum, which took place on September 25, prevented the staging of the elections.
The failed independence bid sparked wide political differences among government and opposition parties and disputes are ongoing over the waning control of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces over the Kirkuk province and so-called constitutionally disputed areas with Baghdad.
This led the parliament, whose tenure was supposed to end in mid-October, to unanimously vote for the extension of its term for eight months.
The parliament also passed a decision, under which the government was granted a maximum period of ten months to take the necessary measures to hold the parliamentary and presidential elections, especially after the expiration of the term of former President Masoud Barzani, who announced that he would not run for another term.
However, the prime minister’s statement on Tuesday did not include any reference to staging presidential polls.
Tarek Jawhar, Kurdistan’s presidential advisor for media affairs, told Asharq Al-Awsat that presidential elections needed reconciliation between the major powers and parties in the region.
“This matter will be entrusted to the parliamentary blocs that will be elected later, which will in turn work to purify the political atmosphere and create the appropriate ground for such reconciliation,” Jawhar said.
He added that political forces were also awaiting the results of the Iraqi legislative elections, which will open new political horizons between Baghdad and Erbil. The Iraq elections will be held on Saturday.
“It is not necessary to hold parliamentary and presidential elections together, as stated in the parliament’s decision, because the priority for the next parliament will focus primarily on rearranging the internal political situation in the region,” Jawhar stated.
