ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) closed the window on Thursday for parties, coalitions, and independent candidates to register for the upcoming legislative election. Marwan Mohammed, the head of IHEC’s office in Erbil, told Rudaw on Thursday that the deadline for the political parties, coalitions, and independent candidates to register for the October 20 election ended at 2 pm and will not be extended. The deadline has been extended several times in recent months. The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which had announced it would boycott the long-overdue legislative election due to concerns over the elimination of minority seats by a top Iraqi court, also submitted its candidates’ list Thursday. The election process has been marred in difficulties, with interference from Baghdad fueling tensions between the Kurdistan Region’s parties - particularly differences between the KDP and the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The Kurdistan Region, which last held elections in 2018, had planned to open polls two years ago, but the process has been delayed several times. Most recently, the vote was unable to materialize on a previously-suggested date of June 10 after the IHEC announced that it would not be able to supervise the polls then.
