KURDISTAN ISLAMIC UNION

(KIU)

   One of numerous Islamic groups active in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) region of northern Iraq, the relatively moderate KIU doubled its vote in the Iraqi national elections held on 15 December 2005. Instead of advocating loyalty to Islam over nationalism, the KIU has attempted to seize the moral high ground by accusing the two leading Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of corruption and economic mismanagement. In the earlier January 2005 Iraqi elections, however, the KIU was part of a broad Kurdish coalition led by the KDP and PUK. Salahadin Bahaddin has been its secretary-general since 1994.

   In the KRG elections of 25 July 2009, the KIU was part of the Reform and Services List, which also included the Islamic Group in Kurdistan and two leftist parties that won 13 seats in a parliament of 111 total seats. The KIU won 4 seats in the Iraqi national elections of 7 March 2010, while the Islamic Group in Kurdistan won 2 seats in a parliament of 325 total seats.