Today, Monday, December 18, 2023, the Iraqi provincial council elections began, and the citizens of the provinces of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, as well as in the disputed areas of Kirkuk and Nineveh, went to the polls to elect members of the provincial councils.
The Washington Institute for the Middle East wrote in a report about the provincial council elections in Iraqi provinces that the importance of the elections in the disputed areas of Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces, where the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government have disagreements over control over these provinces, was significant.
This institute has claimed that the Kurdish parties, especially the two parties of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), will win most of the seats in the Kirkuk provincial council elections. This institution close to the US government has also claimed that Kurdish parties have won significant seats in Nineveh province and their power will increase in this disputed province. According to the American institute, it is highly possible to have military forces affiliated with Kurdish parties in Nineveh province.
The Washington Institute for the Middle East has warned that the result of the Iraqi provincial council elections will intensify the tension and confrontation between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the central government of Iraq.