Kurdish Islamic movement urges President Barzani to convene a "national meeting" to discuss elections

Shafaq News/ The Islamic League Movement of Kurdistan on Tuesday called on the president of the Region, Nechirvan Barzani, to hold an "expanded national meeting" to discuss the political situation in the region.

In a statement released earlier today, the movement said that "out of our sense of religious, national, and historic responsibility, we believe it is necessary to present this initiative for an expanded meeting of all political parties in Kurdistan."

The statement described the meeting as "national emergency" and said it should be held "under the supervision of the Kurdistan Region Presidency" to "discuss the political situation in the Kurdistan Region and the parliamentary elections."

"In our view, the withdrawal from the electoral process should be considered in light of the higher interests of the Kurdistan Region," the statement added.

"We, as a movement dedicated for Islamic ties, consider elections necessary to overcome the legal vacuum, restore legitimacy to the region's institutions and solve the problem of the Kurdish people, who are currently living in a difficult situation."

Yesterday, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) announced it would boycott a parliamentary election in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq scheduled to be held in June in protest over a ruling issued by the federal supreme court.

The KDP said in a statement that Iraq's federal court had violated the constitution and undermined regional authorities following a ruling in February that amended the Kurdish region's election law.

Iraq's federal supreme court ruled to cancel 11 seats reserved for minority groups, including Turkmen, Assyrians and Armenians, reducing the number of regional parliament seats to 100.

The February ruling also changed the electoral system to divide the Kurdistan region into four constituencies instead of the single-constituency system adopted in the previous elections in 2018, prompting the KDP to reject it as unconstitutional.

The federal court ruling also gave authority to the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to organize and oversee regional elections instead of the Kurdish regional election commission.

The ruling by the federal court came after a lawsuit by KDP's historic rival and junior coalition partner in government, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), according to a court document seen by Reuters and the party's lawyers.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski expressed concern over the KDP decision to boycott the June regional elections.

“We are concerned by KDP's announcement to boycott the Iraqi Kurdistan Region elections. We urge the Government of Iraq & the Kurdistan Regional Government to ensure that elections are free, fair, transparent, & credible." Romanowski said on social media platform X on Monday.

A PUK spokesperson said that the Sulaymaniyah-based party is committed to holding Kurdistan parliamentary elections on June 10.