IDPs in Kurdistan Region Can Vote in Iraq’s Provincial Election: Federal Court

 Iraqi Federal Court issued a ruling on Tuesday to allow the displaced people from the disputed Kurdish areas to cast their votes in the upcoming provincial elections.

Kurdistan Region Parliament previously appealed to the Federal Court of Iraq to object to an article in the Provincial Election Law, which blocked the IDPs from taking part in the vote.

Nearly 1.1 million Iraqi IDPs and Syrian refugees are still in Kurdistan Region. They fled their homes after the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) in 2014.

MP Jwan Rozhbayani confirmed that the Federal Court held a session on Tuesday and ruled out the articles which prevented the IDPs from casting their vote in the 2020 election.

The majority of the IDPs from Nineveh, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Salahaddin are Kurds, whose votes could make a huge difference for the Kurdish political presence in the disputed areas.