14 parties and coalitions are competing for 12 parliamentary seats in the northern, oil-rich, multiethnic province of Kirkuk, including Arabs with seven lists, Kurds with five lists, and Turkmen with two separate lists.
In total, nine of these lists are likely to win parliamentary seats, considering their votes in previous elections, including the Iraqi parliamentary and provincial council elections.
Arabs most divisive
The Arab community is running on seven separate lists, including the Arab Coalition, the Azm, Taqadum, Hasm, the National Tribal Movement in Iraq, the Imran Party, and the Rafa'a Watani, but only four of them are likely to win parliamentary seats.
Arabs won about 173,00 votes in the previous parliamentary elections, and this time they fear losing some of their votes due to the division, especially since some lists may not win enough votes to secure parliamentary seats.
In Kirkuk province, about 960,000 eligible voters are registered in the biometrics of the Independent High Election Commission IHEC and are eligible to vote in the Iraqi parliament. With a turnout rate of 100 percent, the value of a parliamentary seat is approximately 74,000 votes.
For Kurds, it is a competition between three lists
The Kurdish community is in a better position than the Arabs, as although they have five separate lists, the competition is primarily between three lists that have the potential to win parliamentary seats.
The Kurdish parties include the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Nawa-i-Nuw (The New Generation), the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party (KSDP), and the People's Front.
Sherzad Samad, head of the electoral chamber of the PUK headquarters in Kirkuk, stated that many efforts and meetings were held to ensure Kurdish parties participate in the elections with a single list and votes are not lost.
“The other party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), linked the agreement to participate in the elections with a single list to the formation of the tenth cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government.”
"They mixed the cards," he added.
"We have always supported the PUK and other Kurdish parties to participate in the elections with a single list, but the PUK wanted us to run separately," said Luqman Hussein, spokesman for the KDP's Kirkuk-Garmyan provincial organizing bureau.
Turkmen; Two lists and a battle for two seats
The Turkmen community could not unite in this election and had to participate with two separate lists: The United Turkmen Front in Iraq and the Turkmen Liberation Coalition, predominantly led by Shiite Turkmen.
Both fronts had won seats in the previous elections and are now competing for one.
The total number of candidates in Kirkuk province is 251, including 76 women and 175 men, which means each seat will have more than 19 candidates.
According to the electoral law, the province has only 13 out of the 329 seats in parliament, including one quota seat for Christians and three for women.
