ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Monday directed the allocation of plots of land to more than 1,600 employees of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) working in the Region. “Land will be allocated to 1,628 employees of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission [IHEC]” working in Duhok, Erbil, and Sulaimani provinces, read a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Council of Ministers. “Upon the directive of Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, necessary procedures should be carried out to allocate land to the employees of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission,” the statement added. The directive outlines that eligible employees must not have previously benefited from similar land distribution from the KRG in the past. The land allocation follows a similar move by the KRG in recent days. On Wednesday, the Kurdistan Region’s agriculture ministry announced that 6,118 of its employees across the Region will also be granted plots of land. Similarly, on Sunday, the KRG’s Ministry of Culture and Youth distributed land to nearly 1,900 employees. In January, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council extended the IHEC’s mandate for another two years, until January 1, 2027, marking the third extension of the commission’s term. The first two extensions were approved by Iraq’s parliament. The IHEC supervised the Kurdistan Region’s elections held in October. Iraq’s parliamentary elections are slated for October 2025.
