The first meeting of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, scheduled for Monday at the invitation of the acting governor, was canceled due to the absence of Arab and Turkmen factions.
The meeting was scheduled for 2 p.m., but only factions from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Christian blocs were present. This did not fulfill the legal requirements to hold the meeting.
Earlier, Parwin Fatih, a member of the Kirkuk provincial council, told Channel8 that according to the law, the speaker and governor must be elected in the first meeting of the council, but no agreement has been reached between the parties.
On December 18, 2023, the Iraqi provincial council elections were held, excluding the Kurdistan Region. Kurdish parties won seven seats, Arab parties six seats, and Turkmen two seats.
After 18 years, the provincial council elections were held in Kirkuk on December 18, 2023, the first local elections in the province since the 2005 elections. The process was held in four districts and 12 sub-districts of the province.
The Kirkuk provincial council consists of 15 seats and one seat for the Christian community. 248 candidates from ten coalitions, five political party lists, and three independent candidates are competing for these seats.
Kurdish parties entered Kirkuk with five different lists and sought to reaffirm their majority in the city and take back the post of governor as well as the administration of the city.
In the 2005 elections, the number of seats in the Kirkuk provincial council was 41. Kurds, who had participated on a single list called the Kirkuk Brotherhood List, had 26 seats.
