News Center- The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has announced the preliminary results of the provincial council elections that took place on December 18, 2023. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has won five seats in the Kirkuk provincial council, according to the IHEC. The Kurds have won at least six seats in Nineveh, one seat in Diyala and one seat in Salahaddin province.

 More than six million people casted votes

A total of 6,599,668 ballots were cast across Iraq during Saturday’s early vote and Monday’s general elections, accounting for a 41 percent turnout.

PUK came first in Kirkuk

According to preliminary results by the IHEC, the PUK leads the polls in Kirkuk by 139,373, the KDP won 46,479 votes, while the NGM, and the Kirkuk Torch alliance collected 24,620 and 6655 votes respectively. The results show that the PUK has won five seats in the Kirkuk provincial council.

The candidate of Shengal wins

The people of Shengal (Sinjar) also casted their votes for their candidate. The Nineveh People Union Alliance was formed by the Yazidi Freedom and Democracy Party (PADÊ), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and a number of political parties. The PADÊ fielded four candidates in Nineveh/Mosul. According to the results, Kasım Keşko, one of the four candidates, has been elected as a council member in Nineveh/Mosul. After the announcement of the results, the Yazidis took to the street to celebrate their victory in Shengal.