The Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) won nine parliamentary seats in the Kurdistan National Assembly July 25 elections. The political coalition that the KIU led in the elections, the Reform & Services List gained approximately 12.8% of the electorate vote in the elections. According to the report:
The Kurdistan List won the parliamentary elections with 57.34 percent of the votes, followed by the arch-rival Change List with 23.75 percent and the Reform & Services List with 12.8 percent , Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said on Wednesday. “The Kurdistan List, formed by the two main Kurdish parties – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s President Massoud Barazani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) won the parliamentary elections by 57.34 percent of the votes,” the IHEC said in a press conference it held in Baghdad on Wednesday. The Kurdistan List had occupied a majority of 78 seats in the Kurdistan parliament – 39 for the PUK and 39 for the KDP – while other parties under the banner of the Change List occupied 18 seats – nine for the Kurdistan Islamic Union, six for the Islamic Group led by Ali Babir, two for the Democratic Socialist Party and only one seat for the Kadhi Kurdistan Party. Parliamentary and presidential elections for the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region were held on Saturday (July 25) with participation of 24 election lists and five runners for the top post in Kurdistan. The parliamentary election is the third and the presidential election is the first to be held in the region. Voters in the three Kurdish provinces of Arbil, Sulaimaniya and Duhuk had gone to the ballot boxed to choose 111 members of parliament out of 507 candidates. The IHEC had said that turnout in the Kurdistan elections reached 78.5 – 85.930 percent in Duhuk, 79 percent in Arbil and 74.5% in Sulaimaniya. In Baghdad, the turnout was no more than 15 percent .
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood had earlier identified the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kurdistan. According to that report:
The Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Islamic Union and head of the Services and Reforms list Salahuddin Bahauddin stressed that he wished there could be successful and democratic elections, adding that the presence of different lists in these elections should not lead to uncivilised conflicts. “The Atmosphere should be Encouraging for people to vote freely without exposing anyone to troubles or expulsion from work” Salahuddin added. Regarding media, he stressed that the media should function properly and positively and to avoid appealing or defaming anybody. The Kurdistan Islamic Union (Muslim Brotherhood) will enter elections using the list of the Services and Reforms which includes four Islamic and secular parties, namely (The Kurdistan Islamic Union, The Islamic Group, The Social Democratic Party and The Party of the hard-workers, Tarik Aziz’s wing known as (The Future). Those parties started a year ago with projects and joint actions submitted to the government, the presidency of the region and relevant institutions aiming at bringing reform to various fields. This joint project has developed forming a united list from which the Kurdish people expect a lot and wish success where it hopes to put an end to corruption and lack of services from which citizens suffer under the authority controlled by the two main parties.
The BBC has a short profile on the KIU:
Also known as Yekgirtu, the Kurdish Islamic Union is the largest Islamic organisation in Iraqi Kurdistan. It was formally established in 1994. The group’s leaders fought the 1992 legislative elections in Kurdish-controlled Iraq, winning third place behind the KDP and PUK. The party is currently led by Secretary-General Sheikh Salah al-Din Muhammad Baha al-Din. The party is supported mainly by donations from Saudi Islamic organisations. Active in charity work in the region, the party has been building mosques, clinics and schools in rural areas, where it has a strong following.
For the KIU website, go here.