KRG to create a Kurdish Independent High Electoral Commission

MESOP : THE INDEPENDENCE PHANTASMA

 27.05.2014 – Hemin Salih – BasNews, Erbil – The Kurdistan Region Parliament has plans to set up a Kurdish version of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), which all five key Kurdish parties have agreed to.

While all five parties have agreed to the formation of a Kurdish IHEC and will all form part of the commission, there have been disagreements regarding the decision making process and whether it should be based on a political agreement or a 2/3 of votes. The head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) parliament faction Omed Khoshnaw told BasNews: “by creating this commission, the Kurdistan Region will be completely independent from Iraq when it comes to elections.”Koshnaw explained that while the plan had been previously discussed it need a general consensus from the parties involved, which was not the case at the time. However, he stressed, now there is a better understanding between the different parties.

Gorran MP Evar Ibrahim said: “we want this commission to be independent and neutral.”

Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) MP Marwan Galalayi said that the different parties can act as members of the commission and supervise in an independent manner. Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) Sherko Jawdat however believes that there are many Kurdish people who are neutral and independent and that can be members of the commission.