ERBIL — Ali Bapir, leader of the Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal), announced on Saturday that his party would not enter the Kurdistan Region's newly elected parliament, citing alleged election rigging.

Speaking at a press conference, Bapir claimed the voting process was “fabricated and extensively rigged,” which led to his party’s decision to reject the seats allocated to them. 

“After confirming and being 100 percent certain, it is clear to us—as well as likely to several other parties—that the voting process was fabricated,” Bapir stated. He suggested that the rigging appeared to have been orchestrated from outside the Kurdistan Region, but did not assign blame to any specific group.

The October 20 elections saw the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) secure a decisive victory, nearly doubling the votes of its closest rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Komal, with 67,410 votes, was set to gain three seats but opted to reject them, with Bapir emphasizing the decision as a stand against injustice and a warning to the Region’s authorities.

“This is both a stand to defend the will and freedom of the people of the Kurdistan Region and a warning to the Region’s rulers and authorities: playing with the people's votes and will in this way leads to negative consequences,” he warned.

Komal’s decision follows allegations of electoral fraud by several political groups, including the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), the People’s Front (Baray Gal), and the National Stance Movement (Halwest). Komal is the first party to announce it will not enter parliament, while KIU has decided to take an opposition stance.

Meanwhile, Halwest leader Ali Hama Saleh rejected the election results, claiming they were manipulated to favor three major parties. The Iraqi electoral body overseeing the elections has denied these allegations, with spokesperson Jumana al-Ghalai stating that there were no violations during the counting process and calling the accusations “completely unacceptable.”

More than 120 complaints were reported on election day, including allegations of campaign violations at polling stations and voters bringing phones into booths, raising concerns about voter coercion.

In a related development, the Change Movement (Gorran) also rejected the election results, citing vote rigging. Gorran’s decline in support was notable, receiving only 11,621 votes compared to 175,282 votes and 11 seats in the 2018 elections.