Voters in the Federal Kurdistan Region went to the polls on Sunday to elect 100 members of parliament. According to the Iraqi Independent High Election Commission, the turnout in the elections was 72 percent.
In the elections held in Hewlêr (Erbil), Sulaymaniyah, Duhok and Halabja, no party was able to reach the number to form a government on its own.
According to the results, KDP became the first party, followed by the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and New Generation. The rise of New Generation is considered as a surprise.
According to the results from 99 percent of the opened ballot boxes, KDP won 40 seats, PUK 23 seats and New Generation 16 seats. In addition, Yekgirtû won 7 seats, Kurdistan Justice Community won 3 seats, Helwest won 3 seats, Popular Front won 2 seats and Gorran movement won one seat.
The number of seats in the Kurdish parliament, which previously consisted of 111 deputies, was recently reduced to 100 by a Baghdad court ruling. 5 seats are reserved for minorities. In the last elections in 2018, the KDP won 45 seats and the PUK 21 seats. In the same elections, Gorran won 12 seats, New Generation 8, Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal) 7 and the others 7 seats.
In the elections held on 20 October, the KDP traditionally came first in Hewlêr, while the PUK maintained its first place in Sulaymaniyah. KDP won the majority of votes in Duhok and PUK won the majority of votes in Halabja.
In total, the KDP reportedly received more than 802 thousand votes and the PUK received more than 348 thousand votes. More than 270 thousand people voted for the New Generation. The Islamic party Yekgirtû is in fourth place with more than 110 thousand votes.
These results do not include the results of the special voting held on Friday 18 October with the participation of security forces. The Electoral Commission has not yet announced the final results.