Tag: Kurdistan

  • Iraqi court suspends Kurdistan election preparations

    Iraqi court suspends Kurdistan election preparations

    Iraq’s highest court on Tuesday temporarily suspended preparations for June 10 parliamentary elections in the autonomous northern Kurdistan region, a source of tension between the two main Kurdish parties.

    The Federal Supreme Court suspended procedures related to “the registration of lists of candidates”, while it decides on another case linked to legislative elections in Kurdistan, a statement on the court’s website said.

    Kurdistan’s prime minister, Masrour Barzani, had filed an appeal to the supreme court arguing the “unconstitutionality” of the division of electoral constituencies planned for the vote.

    While awaiting a verdict, Barzani requested “a halt and suspension of the procedures of the electoral commission”.

    “The proceedings are suspended from today until the verdict,” an electoral commission source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    The suspension comes amid a long-running conflict between the region’s two historic parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

    The court issued a ruling in February to reduce the number of seats in the Kurdish parliament from 111 to 100, effectively eliminating a quota reserved for Turkmen, Armenian and Christian minorities.

    In response, Barzani’s KDP said it would boycott legislative polls and did not register candidates.

    Since then the KDP pushed for postponement of the June 10 elections, which had initially been scheduled for October 2022, but were pushed back several times.

    The PUK has opposed any delay in holding the elections.

    Tuesday’s verdict comes as Kurdistan’s president, Nechirvan Barzani, is visiting Iranian leaders in Tehran, after meeting senior politicians in Baghdad.

    The KDP is the largest party in the outgoing parliament, with 45 seats against 21 for the PUK.

    The Kurdistan region has been autonomous since 1991, and presents itself as an oasis of stability favourable to foreign investment in Iraq.

    However, activists and opposition figures denounce what they say is corruption, repression of dissident voices and arbitrary arrests in the region.

  • ‘Not my-self’; wearing Hijab discomforts me, says Iranian chess player

    ‘Not my-self’; wearing Hijab discomforts me, says Iranian chess player

    Iranian chess player Sara Khadem has taken part in an international chess tournament without wearing the hijab.

     As per Iranian Law, it is compulsory for women to wear hijab or cover their head while competing in international tournaments. Sara Khadem has said that she still hopes she will continue representing her homeland in international competitions.

    On September 13 last year in Tehran, Iran, the moral police arrested a 22-years-old woman named Masha Amini from Kurdistan Province for not wearing hijab properly.

    Masha Amini went into a coma when the police assaulted her while she was under arrest. Masha died in the hospital on September 16.

    Sara Khadem’s action is also being seen as support for the protests which have gripped Iran since Amini’s death. Iranian moral police planned to arrest Sara Khadem upon her arrival in the country but the chess player fled to Spain with her husband and 10-month-old son.

    While talking to a Spanish newspaper Sara Khadem said that she is, “not my-self while wearing hijab.” She said that planned to leave Iran after the birth of her son Sam. “I want my son to move freely on roads and play without bothering us. Spain is the only place that pops up in my head and I took refuge here,” she stated.

    Khadem also clarified that she will only wear hijab if there are cameras before an international chess match in Kazakhstan.

    “But I’m not me when I wear hijab. I don’t feel well. So, I decided to put an end to that situation. Because of this, I have decided not to wear the hijab anymore,” she said.