Arab Candidates Quit Kirkuk Race After Kurds Win Voting Rights

Arab candidates competing in Kirkuk's January 2005 provincial election withdrew from the race after Iraqi authorities extended voting rights to Kurds who had been expelled from the city under Saddam Hussein.

The head of the Arab electoral list, Wasify al-Assy, cited both the registration decision and security conditions in surrounding provinces as grounds for the pullout. His coalition, the Arab Unifying Front, had already chosen to boycott the national elections.

The Iraqi government and the Independent Electoral Commission issued the ruling on 16 January, clearing the way for as many as 100,000 displaced Kurds to cast ballots in Kirkuk. In the week before the announcement, 49,000 had already registered.

The decision effectively shifted the balance of political power in Kirkuk toward the Kurdish population, which had long sought to incorporate the oil-rich city into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.