General elections were held in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 25 July 2009 to elect a president and the 111 members of the Kurdistan Region Parliament, National Assembly. Around 2.5 million people were eligible to vote, although those outside the region were not allowed to vote. The elections had originally been scheduled to take place on 19 May, but were delayed until 25 July. A referendum to approve the constitution of Kurdistan Region originally planned for the same day was delayed until 1 August,MP: delaying Kurdistan constitution not ‘fair’
, ''AK News'', 2009-07-07 and eventually cancelled. Campaigning for the elections officially started on 22 June 2009 and was to be stopped 48 hours before voting started. The elections were held with 84 registration centers and 5,403 polling stations in Kurdistan Region and 5 polling stations in Baghdad.

Electoral system

The 111 members of the National Assembly were elected by closed list proportional representation, with a requirement that least 30% of the candidates on a list must be female. The open list system was introduced for the simultaneous 2009 Iraqi governorate elections, governorate elections and the decision to stay with a closed list was criticised by members of the Kurdistan National Assembly who argued open lists strengthened the relationship between voters and candidates and reduced corruption.Kurdistan parliament elections between closed and open lists
, ''Ak News'', 2009-03-04 Eleven of the 111 seats were reserved for minorities; five for Assyrian people, Assyrians, five for Iraqi Turkmen, Turkmen and one for Armenians.

Presidential candidates

The five presidential candidates were: * Ahmed Mohammed Rasul (also known as Safen Haji Sheikh Mohammed) * Masoud Barzani (incumbent president) * (a businessman) * (brother-in-law of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani) * (a London-based scholar)

National Assembly candidates

There were 509 candidates running in the National Assembly elections representing 25 parties or lists. Five of these entities were electoral alliances and others were political parties. The two main Kurdish parties - the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq of Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of the President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani - continued their electoral coalition in the Kurdistan List. They were challenged by the Gorran Movement led by Nawshirwan Mustafa, the former deputy secretary general of the PUK and Jawhar Namiq, a former secretary general of the KDP and speaker of the Kurdistan National Assembly. The Kurdistan Islamic Union and Islamic Group in Kurdistan formed a coalition with two secular parties called the Service and Reform List. The Assyrian seats were contested by four lists, the Turkmen seats by four and the Armenian seat by three individuals.Election campaigns begin in earnest in Kurdistan
, ''Kurdish Globe'', 2009-05-02 Armenians, Armenian individuals: * Aram Shahine Dawood Bakoyan (74) * Eshkhan Malkon Sargisyan (73) * Aertex Morses Sargisyan (75)

Conduct

International observers monitored the elections, including from the European Commission. During the campaign the electoral commission was reported to have fined the Kurdistan List 3 million riyals for unspecified electoral violations. A poll of 1,000 people by the Kurdistan-based Point Organization for Opinion Polls & Strategic Studies found most thought the Gorran Movement would pose a serious challenge but 49% thought the Kurdistan List would use "threats and fraud".Count Your Change
''Newsweek'', 2009-06-24 The Gorran Movement accused the ruling parties of sacking Kurdistan Regional Government, regional government employees who had links to their party. They also claimed that a colonel in the peshmerge regional army had been arrested for supporting them. A Kurdistan List candidate responded by saying "''No party allows its members to vote for another list''". The Progress List also accused Asayish (Kurdistan Regional Government), regional intelligence agents of threatening to kill their supporters.Peshkewtin List says Kurdish security forces "Asayish" threaten to kill supporters of other party
''eKurd'', 2009-06-29 Supporters of the Gorran Movement were shot at in Kifri. Supporters of the Kurdistan List and Gorran Movement clashed in Sulaimaniyah and were separated by police wielding taser guns. The Worker-communist Party of Kurdistan boycotted the elections because it claimed conditions and principles for a fair elections were not met.

Results

President

National Assembly

Initial reports gave the Kurdistan List 60 percent of the vote, equating to around 55 seats. The Gorran Movement claimed it had won around 28 seats. According to the Los Angeles Times, "Change mounted a spirited challenge to the monopoly on power of the two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, making this the first competitive election the semiautonomous enclave has seen. Turnout was put at 78.5%, an indication of the enthusiasm the contest has generated among Kurds." The following tables show the results of the parliamentary and presidential votes by party and by presidential candidate. Seats in yellow indicate reserved minority seats.

References

{{Iraqi Kurdistan 2009 elections in Iraq, Kurdistan 2009 in Iraqi Kurdistan, General Elections in Kurdistan Region July 2009 in Iraq, Kurdistan Kurdistan Region in the Iraq War