23 female candidates from Southern Kurdistan enter Iraqi parliament

The Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has announced that 23 female candidates from Southern Kurdistan won seats in Iraq's parliamentary election held on October 10.

News Center- People in Iraq and Southern Kurdistan casted their votes on October 10 to elect members of the Iraqi parliament. According to the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq, 41% of registered voters turned out for the Iraqi early parliamentary election. According to Iraq's official news agency, the Sadr bloc led by Muqtada al-Sadr has won 73 seats in the 329-member parliament.

The Taqaddum (Progress) alliance led by current parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, has reportedly won 38 seats in the parliament while the State of Law coalition led by Former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has reportedly won 37 seats. The Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq hasn’t yet announced the final results.

According to the preliminary results announced by the IHEC, Kurdish parties in Southern Kurdistan have won 63 seats in the parliament. 23 of the 63 parliamentarians have been reportedly women. Six women candidates have reportedly won seats in the parliament from Erbil, seven from Sulaymaniyah, four from Duhok, three from Nineveh, two from Kirkuk and one from Diyala Governorate.