Shafaq News / The former head of the Gorran movement bloc in the Kurdistan Parliament and a member of the National Council of Gorran, Guhastan Saeed, ruled out holding Kurdistan Parliament elections in February next year for legal and political reasons, expecting them to take place in the fall of 2024.

Saeed stated to Shafaq News Agency, "It is unlikely to hold Kurdistan Parliament elections in February next year due to legal reasons related to the Independent High Electoral Commission, as its mandate will expire on January 7, 2024. After that date, it will lose legitimacy." She added, "Some Kurdish blocs in the Iraqi Parliament have called for extending the Commission's term, which means that the blocs need to convince the Parliament within just four days to extend the Commission's work, as the Parliament will enter its legislative recess on November 9. Otherwise, the Commission will lose its legitimacy after January 7 next year, and in this case, the Commission, like the Region's Commission, will be illegitimate."

Regarding granting confidence and establishing a new Commission, she confirmed that "this requires at least six months, which means that Kurdistan Parliament elections will not take place before the fall of 2024."

As for the political reasons hindering the elections at the specified time, the former head of the Gorran bloc pointed out, "All parties, outwardly and in the media, are in favor of holding the elections, but the reality and logic are different from this talk. If all parties were ready to hold the elections on time, why have they been postponed until now? Elections were supposed to take place during the Kurdistan Parliament's working period before its suspension on November 6, 2022, but the elections did not happen due to the lack of agreement on the election law. This means that the political parties in Kurdistan have not agreed on the mechanism for holding the elections until now."

Saeed emphasized, "the region is currently going through a severe economic crisis, and the people are preoccupied with providing their basic needs. They cannot give importance to the elections because they know that the elections will not change their economic reality. This attitude at this time may lead to a significant decline in participation in the elections, and consequently, the elections will lose their legitimacy."

According to the regional order issued by the Kurdistan Regional Government, and based on the powers granted by the law of the Kurdistan Region Presidency to the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, February 25, 2024, has been set as the date for the sixth cycle of Kurdistan Parliament elections in Iraq. The regional order obliges all concerned parties to cooperate and coordinate with the Independent High Electoral Commission to implement the order from its issuance date, published in the official gazette.