KURDISH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY RULES ON UPCOMING

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000831

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2014
TAGS: IZ KDEM PGOV
SUBJECT: KURDISH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY RULES ON UPCOMING
ELECTIONS

Classified By: PMIN Robert Ford for Reasons 1.4 (d).


1. (SBU) According to contacts at UNAMI, on 25 March the
Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) adopted a number of
amendments to the electoral law for the Iraqi Kurdistan
National Assembly. KRG President Barzani is expected to sign
the bill shortly, and we do not anticipate challenges. These
amendments, and a number of related decisions, would come
into immediate effect, further paving the way for the conduct
of elections for the 111-member KNA, or Kurdistan Iraq
Parliament (KIP) as it is now to be called.

Key points that were decided:

-------------- Closed/Open List

The KIP elections will be held on the basis of a closed list
system. A proposal for an open list system (whereby voters
would be able to cast a vote for an individual candidate on a
party list, not just the party list as a whole)was defeated.
Each party list must contain at least three candidates.

-------------- Women's Quota

At least 30 percent of the candidates on party lists must be
women.

-------------- Relationships between IHEC and Regional Office

IHEC will conduct the upcoming KIP election, but a new
independent Kurdish Election Commission is to be established
over the next 8 to 12 months and will oversee future
elections. IHEC regulations would apply to the elections
provided they do not conflict with the laws enacted by the
KNA.

-------------- Complaints Process

Complaints related to the KIP elections will be handled by
the IHEC at the Kurdish Regional Election Office. A new
Kurdistan Electoral Judicial Panel will be established to
take final decisions on appeals against election results
(rather than the Electoral Judicial Panel in Baghdad).

-------------- Out of Region Voters

People from the region who are outside the region will have
the right to participate in the elections. IHEC is to take
steps to implement this provision (which would require
registration of Iraqi Kurdistan and voters abroad and
internally displaced). (Note: UNAMI concurs that there is
some ambiguity on what "outside the region" means and expects
greater precision on this issue in coming weeks. End Note).

-------------- Minorities

Eleven of the 111 KIP seats will be reserved for minorities:
5 for Chaldean/Assyrian/Syrian; 5 for Turkmen; 1 for
Armenian.

Comment
--------------


2. (C) The decisions by the KNA set the stage for the
holding of KRG elections sometime after May 19. While May 19
was the original target date for the elections, coinciding
with the seventeenth anniversary of the first elections held
in Kurdistan and therefore a date that holds symbolic appeal,
there is little likelihood the elections will take place in
May, both for political and organizational reasons. IHEC
strongly prefers at least a 90-day lead time to prepare,
which would push the elections to June at the earliest. The
KNA amendments do not specifically address the date of the
election. We have not seen the text of the KNA amendments
but expect to in the next few days.
BUTENIS