Complete 2013 Kurdistan Regional Government Election Results

 

After dealing with the complaints of several parties Iraq’s Election Commission finally announced the full results of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) 2013 parliamentary elections. As the preliminary counts revealed there has been a sea change amongst the Kurdish voters. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which has jointly run the region since the 1990s has fallen out of favor to the benefit of the opposition Change List, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, and the Kurdistan Islamic Group. The issue now is whether those parties will be able to gain meaningful positions in the government, be co-opted by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which will put their own futures in doubt or remain outside of the administration.

The final results of the September 21, 2013 Kurdish parliamentary elections showed how the electorate had changed. Coming in first place was the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) with 743,984 votes, 37.79% of the total, giving them 38 seats. The KDP has tried to become the majority party in the KRG. It failed to achieve that, but has come out the dominant one. Second place went to the Change List with 476,736 votes (24.21%), and 24 seats. It has been one of the three opposition parties that have called for political and economic reform of the KRG. It was the main beneficiary of the demise of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which garnered 350,500 votes (17.8%), and 18 seats. The PUK decided to run separately from its ruling partner the KDP this year, and found out just how far it had fallen in the public’s eye. Next were the Islamic parties. The Kurdistan Islamic Union got 186,741 votes (9.49%) and 10 seats, the Kurdistan Islamic Group had 118,399 votes (6.01%) and 6 seats, followed by the Kurdistan Islamic Movement with 21,834 votes (1.1%) and 1 seat. To finish off the 100 seats available were the Kurdistan Democratic Socialist Party, the Communist Party, and the Third Trend Toilers Party with 1 seat each. There were also 11 seats set aside for minorities. The 5 Turkmen positions went to the Turkmen Development List with 2 seats, Irbil Turkmen List with one seat, the Turkmen Reform List with one seat, and the Turkmen Front with one seat. There were five Christian quota seats going to the Mesopotamia List with two seats, the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Assembly with two, and the Sons of Mesopotamia with one. Finally there was one seat for Armenians as well, which went to Barwan Isan Mergoz Batros. Of the new legislators 77 will be men and 34 will be women. 13 of the latter won seats without the quota system for female lawmakers. In 2009, the KDP and PUK ran together as the Kurdish List. They won 57%of the vote for 59 seats, splitting them between them with the KDP receiving 30 and the PUK 29. Together the two parties won 55.59% of the vote this year, and were able to garner 56 seats between them. The fact that the numbers were almost the same, but the PUK got crushed, showed that the KDP was not only able to hold onto but expand its base. The Change List slightly increased its standing going from 23.75% of the vote in 2009 to 24.21%, but ironically that cost them one seat going from 25 to 24. The Kurdistan Islamic Union and Kurdistan Islamic Group also saw increases. In 2009 they ran with secular parties in the Service and Reform List, which did not last past the vote. That year the coalition came out with 12.8% of the votes with the Islamic Union gaining 6 seats and the Islamic Group 4. In 2013 the two Islamist parties saw a sizeable increase with 15.5% of the vote leading to the Islamic Union receiving 10 seats, and the Islamic Group 6. The KDP has been able to hold onto its base in Dohuk and Irbil, while the PUK has severely dropped off in Sulaymaniya. The party is currently leaderless with President Jalal Talabani being hospitalized in Germany since December 2012, and facing increasing internal struggles. The party has held several high-level meetings to reflect upon its loss, but no major changes have been announced so far. Due to Talabani’s absence and the increasing divisions within the party, none may come for quite some time. The opposition parties Change, the Islamic Union, and the Islamic Group have all taken advantage of this situation.

2009 vs. 2013 KRG Election Results

Party	2009	2013
KDP	Kurdistan List (KDP + PUK) 30 seats (69.5%)	38 seats (37.79%)
PUK	29 seats	18 seats (17.8%)
Change	25 seats (23.75%)	24 seats (24.21%)
Kurdistan Islamic Union	Service & Reform List (KIU, KIG, Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party, Future Party) 6 seats (12.8%)	10 seats (9.49%)
Kurdistan Islamic Group	4 seats	6 seats (6.01%)
Kurdistan Islamic Movement	2 seats (1.45%)	1 seat (1.1%)
Kurdistan Democratic Socialist Party	? seats	1 seat (0.6%)
Communists	Social Justice and Freedom List (Communists, Toilers, others) ? seats (0.82%)	1 seat (0.6%)
Third Trend Toilers Party	? seats	1 seat (0.4%)
Turkmen Quota Seats
Turkmen Democratic Movement	3 seats (0.99%)
Turkmen Development List	-	2 seats (0.2%)
Turkmen Reform List	1 seat (0.38%)	1 seat (0.09%)
Irbil Turkmen List	1 seat (0.21%)	1 seat (0.09%)
Turkmen Front	-	1 seat (0.08%)
Christian Quota Seats
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Assembly	3 seats (0.58%)	2 seats (0.2%)
Mesopotamia List	2 seats (0.3%)	2 seats (0.3%)
Sons of Mesopotamia		1 seat
Armenian Quota Seat
Aram Shahine Dawood Bakoyan	1 seat (0.22%)
Barwan Isan Mergoz Batros	-	1 seat

(US Business Council in Iraq)

When broken down by governorate the opposition was able to win outright in Sulaymaniya, and even picked up some support in Irbil and Dohuk. In Sulaymaniya, the three opposition parties had a decisive victory over the PUK with 59.29% of the vote compared to 28.62%. In Irbil Change won 18.4%, the Islamic Group 6.55%, and the Islamic Union 6.51% for 31.46% of the governorate’s electorate. In Dohuk the Islamic Union got 12.77%, Change 2.88%, and the Islamic Group 1.08% for 16.73%. Those two provinces are the base for the KDP. That shows that President Massoud Barzani’s party still has a long way to go to win the Kurdish elections outright as the opposition has sizeable support. It also highlights once again the decline of the PUK as it was outvoted in all three provinces by the opposition.

2013 KRG Election Results By Province

Party	Sulaymaniya	Irbil	Dohuk
KDP	11.3%	48.22%	70.03%
PUK	28.62%	12.89%	5.67%
Change	40.8%	18.4%	2.88%
Kurdistan Islamic Union	10.27%	6.51%	12.77%
Kurdistan Islamic Group	8.22%	6.55%	1.08%

The stance that the opposition takes towards the new government will go a long way to determining the future of the KRG. The KDP has already stated that it does not want Change to become part of the ruling coalition, but that it is open to the Kurdistan Islamic Union, and some of the minority parties. President Barzani wants to dominate Kurdistan, and therefore is unlikely to be open to including Change, which has been pushing for major reforms in the region. The fact that the KDP and PUK between them control half the parliament means they can pick and choose whom to work with. Change, the Islamic Union and the Islamic Group need to weigh what they can gain from participating in the government and staying in the opposition. Making the wrong choice could damage their futures by costing them votes if for example they get co-opted, and also set back the chance to move the KRG towards greater democracy and away from the two-party autocratic rule that it has experienced over the last three decades.

SOURCES

Chomani, Kamal, “Iraqi Kurdistan’s historic election,” Foreign Policy, 9/28/13

Iraq Business News, “KRG Election Results,” 10/4/13

Rudaw, “Kurdistan Parliament Elections 2013,” 10/2/13

- “PUK Begins High-Profile Reshuffle after Poor Poll Results,” 10/1/13

Sands, Phil, “Victory for Kurdistan opposition,” The National, 7/30/09

Shafaq News, “Final results of Kurdistan Parliament seats: 38 KDP, Change 24, PUK 18 and 17 seats for Islamists,” 10/2/13

Taha, Yaseen, “secular alliance blamed for Kurdish islamists election failure,” Niqash, 8/30/09

Zebari, Abdul Hamid, “Erbil: Commission announces the results of the elections of the Parliament of Kurdistan,” Radio Free Iraq, 10/2/13

Full Kurdish Election Results

The 2009 Kurdistan parliamentary and presidential elections resulted in the first real challenge to the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). While their Kurdistan List still came in first with 69.57% of the vote, parties that claimed to be reformers received 39.43%. While most of the smaller parties in this group didn't qualify for seats in the 111-member Kurdish parliament, the largest one, the Change List, will control just under one-quarter of the legislature. The major reason for their success is that many Kurds wanted a real opposition to try to force the KDP-PUK alliance to end its corruption, provide greater transparency, allow more dissenting opinions, and develop the region.

The competition between the Kurdistan List and the Change List was intense. The Change List claimed that their followers were being fired from their government jobs by the PUK and KDP before the vote. A U.S. officer confirmed one such example when a Kurdish border patrol commander and his entire unit were fired by the PUK peshmerga because he supported the Change List. The ruling parties were also accused of hiring 2,500 government workers after a four year hiring freeze, all of whom were expected to vote for the Kurdistan List in return. The Change List and Kurdistan List accused each other of tearing down the others posters. In early June 2009 the Minister of Peshmerga was accused of attacking Change supporters at a rally. Finally, on election day, the opposition parties claimed that PUK and KDP followers were voting without IDs, blocking opposition observers from polling stations, campaigning after deadlines, and voting more than once. Afterwards the Change List said that their offices in Irbil were attacked by the KDP, and there were reports of violence between different supporters in Sulaymaniya.

As reported before, these election results are likely to have far ranging effects not only upon Kurdish politics, strengthening Barzani against Talabani, and creating the first real opposition, but also upon national ones, perhaps weakening the Kurds' unified position in Baghdad, and offering a new partner in the Change List for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the parliamentary balloting.

Kurdistan Regional Government Presidential Election Results

Massoud Barzani – Head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Re-Elected KRG President	69.57%
Kamal Mirawdeli – Independent scholar who won a majority in Sulaymaniya	25.32%
Halo Ibrahim Ahmed – Head of the Progress List and brother-in-law of the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. His father was a famous PUK leader, and Halo was kicked out of the party for forming his own reform faction in 2008	3.49%
Safin Sheikh Mohammed – Independent businessman and former PUK member who quit in 1995 over the KDP-PUK civil war to form his own party	1.40%
Hussein Karmiani – Another former PUK member who left the party in 2005 and runs agriculture business	0.59%

Seats Awarded In Kurdish Parliament – 111 seats total
Kurdish List 59 seats
Change List 25 seats
Service And Reform List 13 seats
Islamic Movement of Kurdistan List 2 seats
Social Justice and Freedom List 1 seat
Turkmen had a 5 seat quota
Turkmen Democratic Movement In Kurdistan 3 seats
Turkmen Reform List 1 seat
Irbil Turkmen List 1 seat
Christians had a 5 seat quota
National Council of Chaldean Syriac Assyrians 3 seats
Al-Rafidain List 2 seats
Armenians had a 1 seat quota
Aram Shahine Dawood Bakoyan

Kurdistan Parliamentary Election Results

Kurdistan List – KDP-PUK Coalition. Ran together in previous two Kurdish elections. PUK is now the weaker of the two parties as they lost in their own home province of Sulaymaniya	69.57%
Change List – Led by former PUK co-founder Nishurwan Mustafa, media magnet. Won Sulaymaniya and will be the first real opposition party if it can keep its disparate group of followers together	23.75%
Service And Reform List – Coalition of Islamists and Leftists, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, the Islamic Group of Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party, and Future Party. The Islamists were the previous opposition to the ruling parties, but had a history of cooperating with them	12.8%
Islamic Movement of Kurdistan List – Formed by Sunni mullahs in 1979 who call for Islamic government and greater transparency	1.45%
Turkmen Democratic Movement In Kurdistan – Calls for Turkmen unity, annexation of Kirkuk, and is opposed to Turkish influence. Won 3 of the 5 seats set aside for Turkmen	0.99%
Social Justice and Freedom List – Leftist coalition of the Kurdistan Communist Party, the Kurdistan Toilers Party, the Kurdistan Independent Work Party, the Kurdistan Pro-Democratic Party, and the Democratic Movement of Kurdistan People that calls for equal rights and secularism	0.82%
National Council of Chaldean Syriac Assyrians – Calls for the Ninewa Plains, a historically Christian area, to be annexed by Kurdistan. Is assured of at least one seat as 5 were reserved for Christians	0.58%
Turkmen Reform List – Wants more power for Turkmen and is against Turkish influence. Won 1 of 5 seats set aside for Turkmen	0.38%
Al-Rafidain List – Wants a greater role for Christians, especially in the security forces	0.3%
Aram Shahine Dawood Bakoyan – An Armenian politician assured of at least one seat as 2 were set aside for Armenians	0.22%
Irbil Turkmen List – Wants Kirkuk to be annexed and is against Turkish influence. Won the last of 5 seats set aside for Turkmen	0.21%
Kurdistan Toilers and Workers Party List – Calls for rule of law in Kurdistan	0.18%
Aertex Morses Sargisyan – Independent Armenian politician likely to receive other seat reserved for Armenians	0.15%
Kurdistan Conservative Party – A tribal party that has ties with the PUK	0.13%
Kurdistan Reform Movement – Led by Abdul Barzani, cousin of Massoud Barzani. Calls for an end to corruption, rule of law, and human rights	0.11%
Independent Youth List – Only includes ten people who call for more rights for the young	0.1%
Kurdistan Democratic National Party List – Calls for Kurdish unity throughout the region, plus more housing and women and youth rights in Kurdistan	0.1%
Unified Chaldean List – Made up of the Chaldean Union Party and the Chaldean National Council	0.09%
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Autonomy List	0.09%
Kurdistan Bright Future List – Wants separation of political parties from administration and justice system	0.05%
Eshkhan Malkin Sargisyan – Independent Armenian candidate	0.05%
Progression List – Led by Jalal Talabani's brother-in-law and presidential candidate Halo Ibrahim Ahmed. Call for better standard of living	0.05%
Iraqi Constitutional Party – National party founded by Interior Minister Jawad Bolani	0.04%
Independent Turkmen List – Calls for Kirkuk to be an independent region	0.02%

SOURCES

Bakri, Nada, "Challengers Face an Uphill Battle in Elections in Iraq's Kurdish North," Washington Post, 7/19/09

Carpenter, J. Scott and Ali, Ahmed, "Iraqi Kurds Go to the Polls: Is Change Possible?" Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 7/23/09

Cocks, Tim, "Before polls, Iraq Kurds fret about graft not land," Reuters, 7/14/09

Druzin, Heath, "Iraqi border patrol officers fired by rival party supporters," Stars and Stripes, 7/25/09

Hamad, Qassim Khidhir, "kurdish election lists," Niqash, 6/30/09

- "kurds seek new political opposition," Niqash, 7/16/09

Institute for War & Peace Reporting, "KDP Flexes Muscles in Dohuk," 7/21/09

Kurdistan Regional Government, "Electoral Commission announces final results of Kurdistan Region elections," 8/8/09

Mahmoud, Shakhwan, "fired and hired for their political beliefs?" Niqash, 7/20/09
- "opposition claim kurdish election fraud," Niqash, 8/4/09

Monsters & Critics, "Official Iraqi Kurdish election results confirm incumbent victories," 8/8/09

Muhammad, Sardar, "kurdish presidential candidates," Niqash, 7/9/09

Rath, Tiare, "PUK and KDP Face Challenge," Institute for War & Peace Reporting, 7/17/09

Reuters, "Iraq's Kurdish Opposition Allege Poll Violations," 7/26/09

Sands, Phil, "Victory for Kurdistan opposition," The National, 7/30/09

United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, "UNAMI Focus," July 2009