1.1.1 Political developments in the KRI

1.1.1 Political developments in the KRI

In October 2024, the KRI conducted its long-delayed parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2022 but repeatedly postponed due to political disagreements. The vote resulted in the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) securing 39 out of 100 seats, while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) won 23 seats, reaffirming their status as the region’s dominant political forces.30 However, by May 2025, the newly elected parliament remained deadlocked, unable to form a government or elect a speaker. Persistent disputes between the KDP and PUK led to calls for dissolving the parliament and organising new elections. In response to the prolonged impasse, acting speaker Mohammed Sulaiman of the opposition New Generation Movement (NGM) urged the regional president to formally dissolve parliament for failing to meet constitutional deadlines.31 The NGM subsequently brought the matter before Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court, seeking a legal mandate to compel the dissolution of the regional parliament,32 which was dismissed by the court in July due to being outside of its jurisdiction.33

In further developments, at the beginning of May 2025, Halabja officially became Iraq’s 19^th governorate, separating it from Sulaymaniyah governorate.34 For a detailed description of the KRI on a governorate level see section 1.4.8 Kurdistan Region.

In mid-July, public demonstrations erupted across the KRI in response to prolonged electricity outages. During a protest in Erbil governorate, one civilian was killed by a gunshot allegedly fired by security forces, according to a relative of the deceased.35