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Ruling parties in the are exploiting the decision to writeÌýa draft constitution for the federal region of Iraq to extend the region's parliament life andÌý upcoming general elections, Kurdish opposition parties claim.

The presidency of the Kurdistan parliament on Tuesday met with the heads of the parliamentary blocs where they discussed ways for writing a draft constitution for the semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq andÌýthe region's general elections scheduled for 1 October.

Writing a is a controversial issueÌýand has been postponed several times since 1992 when the region's parliament declaredÌýfederalism within the Iraqi state. Iraq's permanent constitution of 2005, admitted federalism for the region, accordingly, the Kurdish region has the right to write its constitution. However, the issue has been suspended due to conflicts among the Kurdish political parties.

According to a statement by the parliament,Ìýthe parliament's legal committee should prepare a bill toÌýformÌýa special committee tasked with writing a draft constitution.Ìý

Kawa Abdulqadir, head of the New Generation opposition bloc in the Kurdistan parliament, said in a press conference following the meetingÌýthat since the Kurdish assemblyÌýfailed to write a draft constitution in the past four years,Ìýhow can ruling parties write it within two remaining months of the life of this round of the legislature?

's Presidency & the heads of the parliamentary parties discussed the draft Kurdistan Constitution, legislative priorities when Parliament sittings resume after summer recess, the next Kurdistan Parliament election & the Election Commission:

— Kurdistan Parliament (@KurdistanParl)

"The Kurdish ruling parties seekÌýto postpone the region's parliamentary elections that is why they have brought about the constitution issue for now. We think debating this controversial issue in the meantime will only complicate itÌýas this subject has been suspended several times in the past years,"ÌýAbdulqadir said.Ìý"We think that the parliament's current priorities should be finding legal solutions regarding the region's electoral commission and elections law soÌýparliamentary elections areÌýheld on time."Ìý ÌýÌý

A special source within the Change Movement, a ruling party in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), told °®Âþµº on condition of anonymityÌýthat the ruling parties want to extend the life of the parliament on the pretexts of writing a draft constitution.Ìý

Sherko Jawdat, head of the Kurdistan Islamic Union opposition party in the Kurdish parliament, said in a press conference thatÌýholding the elections must happen on time.

"We think prioritising the writing of a draft constitution is only a pretext for postponing the elections and extending the life of the parliament that will end by 5 November,"ÌýJawdat said.Ìý

The Kurdistan region held parliamentary elections in September 2018, and by early November the parliament's mandate is expected to expire if the elections were officially postponed.

ÌýThe election witnessed a low turnout of 57 per centÌýand was marred with alleged large-scale voter fraud by the two main Kurdish ruling parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, on 11 August expressed her concern that the Kurdish political parties should settle their differences as soon as possible so that a new date [for voting] can be chosen after the postponement of parliamentary elections.

The Kurdistan parliament includes 111 seats; women have a minimum quota of 30 per cent, while 11 seats are allocated for parties that represent minority groups.