A senior source in the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) told Channel8 that they informed the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) that postponing parliamentary elections at this time would be a threat to the legitimacy of the government and the structure of the Kurdistan Region.
The international community, including the United States and the UK, have conveyed messages of concern to the KDP, saying that creating obstacles to the process is not justified, and called on the party to take these concerns into account.
The KDP may reconsider its decision to boycott the elections, especially as postponing the elections threatens the legitimacy of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The source informed Channel8 that Manoj Matthew, the director of the UNAMI Office of Political Affairs, told senior KDP officials that they support the holding of parliamentary elections.
Matthew told the KDP that the Kurdistan Region is not as strong as it used to be and that disrupting the electoral process would have other consequences, but that there was still time to decide on making the Kurdistan parliamentary elections a success.
The international community has urged the KDP to take its concerns into account and not back itself into a corner of political sanctions.
UNAMI, the US, Britain, and Europe have warned against boycotting the parliamentary elections and called for the restoration of democratic principles.
In response to a decision from the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court on February 21 to cut minority quota seats, the Turkmen, Chaldean, and Assyrian communities announced a boycott of the elections, while the KDP Political Bureau said it was not ready to participate in the polls in such an environment.
Channel8 contacted several members of the Political Bureau and the leadership of the KDP but they declined to comment on the issue.
KDP leader Masoud Barzani said on Wednesday during a meeting with the British ambassador to Iraq that the party wants to hold elections but apart from outside interference and decisions from the federal court.
