Read it here.
"The use of 'closed lists' in this election has also been condemned by
observers and voters alike.
In 'closed lists', voters can only vote for political parties as a
whole and have no say on which party candidate is elected.
By concealing the identities of those who make up the new reform
parties, critics claim it is a plot to guide voters toward supporting the
well-known parties rather than popular individuals.
Members of the establishment have justified this method, claiming that
the people do not have the knowledge and experience to identify individuals who
are well suited to take part in decision-making.
The challenge for the people of Kurdistan in these elections is to find
the right balance of candidates that will empower parties to best serve Iraqi
Kurdistan."
update: Second article here.
But Dr Fereydun Rafiq Hilmi, a member of the first Kurdish cabinet in 1992,
suggested that the election is unlikely to undermine the ruling alliance
between the two parties.
"I don't think there is going to be any challenge to the PUK and KDP,
because these guys are there to stay. They have no intention of letting anyone
else rule," he told Al Jazeera.
Hilmi said the parties have "a long list of malpractice as far as
elections are concerned", citing the first Kurdish elections in 1992 in which he
says the results were "discarded".
"They decided to have a 50-50 system and they established a government,
of which I was a member. It was quite ineffective," he said.
"The people are fed up with the old way of doing things. They have been
fed up for the past 18 to 19 years."
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