Iraq's Kurdistan sets October election date after repeated delays

Parliamentary elections in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region will be held on October 20, the regional presidency announced Wednesday, after delays and political quarrels repeatedly pushed back the vote.

The elections to pick the 100 representatives in the northern region's legislature were initially scheduled for October 2022, and were last due to be held earlier this month, which did not happen.

"The parliamentary elections in Iraq's Kurdistan will be held on October 20", said a decree from regional President Nechirvan Barzani, read by his spokesman Dilshad Shahab in a televised statement.

In February, the federal court issued a ruling to reduce the number of seats in the Kurdish parliament from 111 to 100, effectively eliminating a quota reserved for Turkmen and Christian minorities.

The decision sparked the ire of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), one of the region's two historic parties which holds key positions of power.

The KDP said it would boycott any legislative elections and did not register candidates, ushering in the region's latest political deadlock.

The judiciary eventually restored five reserved for minorities, leading the KDP to reverse course and agree to participate.

The other political heavyweight in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), has repeatedly opposed any delay in holding the elections.

The Kurdistan region has been autonomous since 1991 and presents itself as an oasis of stability favourable to foreign investment in Iraq.

However, activists and opposition figures denounce what they say is corruption, repression of dissident voices and arbitrary arrests in the region.