Duhok Police arrest group for tearing down election posters; candidates encouraged to file complaints

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Colonel Haiman Suleiman, the media spokesperson for Duhok Police, reported the arrest of a group of individuals who tore down election posters and advertisements for several candidates in the governorate.

At a press conference, Suleiman stated, “These individuals tore down posters belonging to certain political parties for personal motives. Following reports of these incidents, the Duhok Police, in coordination with security forces in the governorate, launched an investigation, apprehended the suspects, and seized the vehicle used in these offenses.”

“The Duhok Police took legal action against them after their arrest,” the media spokesperson affirmed. “Any harmed candidate has the right to file a complaint against them.”

The election campaign in the Kurdistan Region began on September 25 and will continue until October 15, with the electoral silence set to commence on Wednesday.

In June, President Nechirvan Barzani issued a Regional decree setting October 20, 2024, as the official date for the Kurdistan parliamentary elections.

The total number of candidates has reached 1,191, competing for 100 seats in the Kurdistan Parliament, distributed as follows: 38 seats for Al-Sulaymaniyah governorate, 34 for Erbil, 25 for Halabja, and 3 seats divided among 823 males and 368 females. The number of candidates from alliances is 123, while party candidates total 946, along with 119 independent candidates for the general seats and the Christian and Turkmen quotas.

The candidacy for the component seats is individual, with 38 candidates for the component quota seats. There are 20 individual candidates for the Turkmen two seats and 18 individual candidates for the three Christian seats.