1992 Kurdistan Region general election

1992 Kurdistan Region general election

19 May 1992
Presidential election
 
Candidate Massoud Barzani Jalal Talabani
Party KDP PUK
Popular vote 466,819 423,833
Percentage 48.09% 43.82%

Elected President

None
Position abolished

National Assembly election

All 105 seats in the Kurdistan National Assembly
53 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats
KDP Massoud Barzani 45.27 51
PUK Jalal Talabani 43.82 49
Assyrian seats
ADM Ninos Pithyou 54.66 4
KCU Sarkis Aghajan 23.03 1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Most-voted for party by area
Prime Minister after
Fuad Masum
PUK

General elections were held in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 19 May 1992 to elect the president and the 105 members of the Kurdistan National Assembly. The elections had initially been planned for 16 May, but were delayed due to concerns about ink delibility leading to voter fraud.

In the first round of the presidential election Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani received slightly more votes than his main rival Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). With neither receiving a majority of the vote, a second round was due to held. However, due to both leaders fearing they may lose in a run-off, the second round was never held and the Kurdistan Regional Government decided to move on without a president. Instead they established an eight-person Presidency Council consisting of four members from each party.

The National Assembly election resulted in a narrow victory for the KDP, which won 51 seats, while the PUK-led alliance won 49 seats. However, due to fraud allegations KDP gave up one seat to the PUK so that each would have 50 seats, they proceeded to form a unity government. On 4 June 1992 KDP Secretary General Jawhar Namiq Salim was elected Speaker of the Kurdistan National Assembly and prominent PUK member Fuad Masum was elected Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region.

The government lasted until May 1994, when the Kurdish Civil War broke out and lasted until 1998, after which Kurdistan Region was divided into a PUK-controlled zone in the southeast and a KDP-controlled zone in the northwest.