“We expect that from the 17 seats from Slemani, 8 will go to Gorran. That would be a great victory. The PUK, KDP and other Islamic parties will divide the rest of the seats,” says Eminki. Gorran received 42% of the votes in the formerly PUK-dominated province of Slemani during the last Kurdish elections in the Kurdistan region.
Eminki says that of the ten Seats in Duhok, eight will go to the Kurdistani alliance. In the last elections 89% voted for the Kurdistani list (KDP and PUK) in Duhok. He also says the Kurdistan Alliance will get a great number of seats in Mosul. During the local Iraqi elections in January 2009, the Kurdish supported Brotherhood list got 33% of the votes of Mosul.
Eminki says Gorran will receive at least three seats of the 15 seats in Hawler (Erbil). “Other Islamic parties and ethnic groups will also actively participate and each of them will get one seat. The PUK will probable got the same amount of seats as Gorran [ in Erbil],” says Eminki.
The KDP-spokesperson doesn’t want to speak about the election results in Kirkuk. According to him the city belongs to ‘all Kurds’. Analysts think there is a possibility that Gorran will receive many Kurdish votes in Kirkuk, due to dissatisfaction towards the ruling parties KDP and PUK. The main rivals of the Kurds in Kirkuk are Turkmen and Arabic lists.
Eminki says Gorran will make a surprise in Bagdad, by getting a great amount of votes among the Shia Fayli Kurds in Baghdad.
Eventually the KDP says the Kurds will get 63 seats in total, but they emphasize the Kurdish lists have to work together to protect Kurdish interest in Baghdad. “We are prepared to form an alliance with all Kurdish lists and parties” (Photo: Rudaw).
© Rudaw
