The election for the General Coordinator and Oversight Board members will specifically take place on September 7. Nominations for these positions will open on August 27 and close on September 2, 2024, following guidelines set by the movement’s election chamber, Abdulkhaliq added.
Sources close to the movement suggest that these elections are particularly important, with the current General Coordinator, Omar Said Ali, facing potential internal challenges. “The movement is under pressure to address its declining popularity and is seeing growing interest from younger members who advocate for internal reforms,” the source said.
The elections are expected to bring new factions within the movement, potentially shaping its future direction. The influence of the children of Nawshirwan Mustafa, the movement’s founder and General Coordinator from 2009 until his death in May 2017, is expected to be a key factor in the election dynamics.
Founded in 2009 by Nawshirwan Mustafa after his resignation from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Gorran (the Movement for Change) is a prominent political party in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The movement gained significant support in the 2013 Kurdistan Parliament elections, securing 24 seats and surpassing the PUK to secure the presidency of the Kurdistan Region Parliament. In the 2018 elections, Gorran won 12 seats.