عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

KDP Wins Iraqi Kurdish Parliamentary Election, Commission Says

Employees of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) count votes at the end of the parliamentary election, at a polling station in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, on October 20, 2024.
Employees of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) count votes at the end of the parliamentary election, at a polling station in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, on October 20, 2024.
TT
TT

KDP Wins Iraqi Kurdish Parliamentary Election, Commission Says

Employees of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) count votes at the end of the parliamentary election, at a polling station in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, on October 20, 2024.
Employees of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) count votes at the end of the parliamentary election, at a polling station in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, on October 20, 2024.

The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) came first in a parliamentary election in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, winning 39 seats, the election commission said on Wednesday, positioning it to lead the next regional government.

The KDP's historic rival and junior coalition partner in government, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), was second with 23 seats, the commission told a news conference.

It said turnout among registered voters was reported at 72%.

The Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament has 100 seats with five reserved for minority groups.

With opposition parties weak, the KDP and PUK, which have been sharing power since 1992, are likely to continue governing together, but the results suggest that Masoud Barzani's KDP will take a dominant position.

Originally planned for 2022, the elections were repeatedly delayed by disputes between the KDP and PUK.

Unresolved disagreements between the two major political parties are expected to complicate the formation of a new government, analysts and regional officials expect.

The largest Kurdish opposition party, New Generation, was a distant third with 15 seats.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
TT
TT

Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.