Iraqi Kurdistan’s Election Campaigns in Full Swing
Unlike the electoral campaigns of the Iraqi local elections in April, the electoral campaigns now underway in Iraqi Kurdistan seem more organized and democratic.
![IRAQ/KURDISTAN Iraqi Kurdish residents hold up a picture of Kurdish President Masoud Barazani as they celebrate after elections in Arbil, 310 km (193 miles) north of Baghdad July 26, 2009. Preliminary results of elections in Iraqi Kurdistan, widely expected to keep two ruling parties in power despite an unprecedented opposition challenge, will be announced on Monday, Iraq's electoral commission said. Picture taken July 26, 2009. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (IRAQ POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR263E6](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2013/08/Iraqi%20Kurdistan.jpg/Iraqi%20Kurdistan.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=Qz-my_BN)
As soon as Iraq’s election commission announced that the election campaign for the Kurdistan region of Iraq’s parliament would start on Aug. 28, the region’s cities of Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dahuk wore different and colorful suits.
The cities’ streets were covered in elegant and creative campaign banners and posters. In Sulaimaniyah, the dominant colors were green and blue. Green symbolizes the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and blue represents the Movement for Change (MC), led by Nawshirwan Mustafa. In the region’s capital Erbil, the yellow color of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which is led by Iraqi Kurdistan's President Massoud Barzani, was predominant.