1992 Kurdistan Region general election

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 candidate receiving an absolute majority of the vote,^[4] a second round was scheduled to be held. However, both leaders feared they might lose in a run-off, so the second round was never held, and the Kurdistan Regional Government decided to proceed without a president.^[5] Instead they established an eight-member Presidency Council consisting of four members from each party.^[6]

The Kurdistan 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, the KDP gave up one seat to the PUK so that each party would hold 50 seats. The two parties then proceeded to form a unity government.^[7][8]

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.^[2][7][8]

The Kurdistan National Assembly convened for the first time on 15 July 1992 and passed Law No. 1, which established the Assembly as the region’s legislature.^[1]

The government lasted until May 1994, when the Kurdish Civil War broke out. The war lasted until 1998, after which the Kurdistan Region was divided into a PUK-controlled zone in the southeast and a KDP-controlled zone in the northwest.^[4]

Due to the civil war in the region, no new elections were held until 2005. The first term of parliament, which was supposed to last three years, ended up lasting 10 years, from 1992 to 2002.^[1][2] The next election was held in 2005, alongside the Iraqi parliamentary election.^[9]

The president was elected using the two-round system; if no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round would be held.

Of the 105 seats in the National Assembly, 100 were general seats elected by proportional representation with a 7% electoral threshold. Five seats were reserved for the Assyrian minority. There were 178 polling stations.^[10]

The elections were described as free and fair by international observers.^[11][12] Amnesty International reports that some smaller parties alleged irregularities.^[13]