Election campaigns begin in Kurdistan

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: The office of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) in Arbil city on Wednesday announced the launch of the election campaigns in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. “The campaigns for the presidential and parliamentary polls began today,” the director of the office, Handreen Mohammed, told IraqiNews.com news agency. The campaigns will end on July 23, Mohammed noted. The IHEC has set July 25 as the date for parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan region. The elections will coincide with the presidential polls. A total of 509 candidates from 20 political blocs and five alliances encompassing 15 blocs are competing for 111 seats in the upcoming parliamentary polls. Parliamentary polls in region were scheduled to be held on May 19, but were postponed due to the Parliament’s endorsement of the amended law on elections. SS (P) 1