Deputy Speaker Dr. Hemin Hawrami welcomes Head of EU Liaison Office in Kurdistan Ms. Marie Paret

Kurdistan Parliament Deputy Speaker Dr. Hemin Hawrami on 27 April 2022 welcomed Ms. Marie Paret, the Head of the EU Liaison Office in Erbil.

Dr. Hawrami and Ms. Paret discussed the political situation in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq and the wider region and the next Kurdistan Parliament elections.

Deputy Speaker Hawrami said that transparency and confidence in the democratic election process will increase by ensuring that elections are held on time every four years and that voter registration lists are updated, or by taking advantage of biometric voter registration by the Iraqi Independent Election Commission for the last Iraqi election. 

The Deputy Speaker said, “People have the right to elections and democratic processes, and no individual or party should violate this right.”

Regarding Kurdistan’s Election Law, Dr. Hawrami said that demands every four years to amend the law or keep it as it is should not be at the whim of narrow party interests, or in anticipation of achieving good or poor election results, to create a pretext for delaying the election.

The Deputy Speaker said that parties’ discussions and mutual understanding and Parliament’s work as an institution are complementary, and as such political obstacles to Parliament’s legislative work should not be created using the excuse that outside Parliament the political parties have disagreements. Parliament’s institutional work and legal responsibilities should continue and cannot be ignored, he said.

Dr. Hawrami asked for the European Union's support for the election process in Kurdistan Region through observation and monitoring.