The Kurdistan Region of Iraq held long-delayed parliamentary elections on 20 October amid an ongoing closure of the crude oil export pipeline which generated the bulk of the region’s revenues. The election had a 72% turnout according to Iraq’s official electoral commission, versus 60% for the previous elections in 2018. The Erbil-based Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which currently dominates the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), has secured 39 seats according to initial results, ahead of the Sulaymaniyah-based Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on 23 seats, reaffirming the region’s political duopoly.
Whilst the KDP-PUK duopoly remains intact, the elections saw a leap for what is now Kurdistan’s main opposition group, New Generation Movement, from eight to 15 seats, but largely at the expense of other smaller parties. Notably the Gorran movement fell from 12 seats to just one. (CONTINUED - 158 WORDS)