Power-sharing deal could end dispute over Kirkuk elections
For the first time since 2005, Kirkuk governorate in Iraq will hold elections Dec. 22 to select its local governing council. Parliament included the multiethnic province of the Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens in the provincial election law approved March 3. The decision follows an agreement among the three groups' representatives in parliament and was greatly welcomed by all segments, […]Omar Sattar writes for Al-Monitor:
For the first time since 2005, Kirkuk governorate in Iraq will hold elections Dec. 22 to select its local governing council. Parliament included the multiethnic province of the Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens in the provincial election law approved March 3.
The decision follows an agreement among the three groups' representatives in parliament and was greatly welcomed by all segments, especially the Kurds, who for years have demanded that elections be held in Kirkuk. Khalid al-Mafraji, an Arab parliament member from Kirkuk, told Al-Monitor that negotiations took more than a year.
The agreement binds the Independent High Electoral Commission to review voters' records in coordination with the ministries of Interior, Commerce, Planning and Health. If they aren't able to review the records before the elections, the commission will be obliged to undertake an audit within six months after the elected council begins its work.
