Iraqi Kurdish party to boycott local polls in tussle with federal Supreme Court

The main party in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region said on Monday it would boycott local elections, accusing the Baghdad-based Supreme Court of interfering in regional affairs.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party or KDP said it would not take part in the June 10 vote following a February ruling by the Federal Supreme Court to amend the electoral law.

That decision reduced the number of seats in the Kurdish parliament from 111 to 100, effectively eliminating a quota reserved for Turkmen, Armenian and Christian minorities.

It also ruled that the Iraqi Electoral Commission should oversee the vote instead of local committees.

The KDP said in a statement: “We believe that it is in the interest of our people for our party not to comply with an unconstitutional decision and a system imposed from the outside.”

It added that the KDP will not participate in a vote “imposed” by the court that “violates the law and the constitution.”

The KDP is the largest party in the outgoing Kurdish parliament, with 45 seats.

It is followed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan or PUK, which has 21 seats and enjoys friendlier ties with the federal government in Baghdad.

Under a tacit agreement between the two parties, a PUK member holds the Iraqi presidency, reserved for a Kurd, while the president of the Kurdish region is selected from the KDP.

A KDP boycott of local polls might further delay the election, originally slated for Oct. 22.

Last week, Christian and Turkman political parties announced plans to boycott the vote.

The Kurdistan region has been autonomous since 1991.

Relations with Baghdad have long been tense, mainly over funds allocated by federal authorities to the Kurdistan region and revenues from its large oil wealth.