Kurdistan's elections: how much each party is spending on their candidates?
Here is how much each party is spending on their candidates for this month's Kurdistan parliamentary elections:
The KDP leads in funding, providing each of its candidates with $6,000 (equivalent to 9.2 million dinars at current exchange rates). With 190 candidates across all electoral districts, the KDP's total financial disbursement amounts to $1,140,000.
The PUK ranks second in campaign financing, allocating 2 million dinars to each of its 176 candidates, resulting in a total expenditure exceeding 350 million dinars.
The Justice Group has provided 1.5 million dinars per candidate, while the People's Front has given 1 million dinars to each of its candidates. The Islamic Union has distributed 500,000 dinars to each of its candidates.
KDP, PUK, and the People's Front are all planning to provide additional funds to their candidates in the coming days to support campaign expenses.
Similarly, the Gorran Movement and Hawlest intend to offer financial support to their candidates.
In contrast, the New Generation Movement has adopted a different strategy, choosing not to provide direct financial support to its candidates. Instead, it will only cover their transportation expenses and run a centralized campaign.
Beyond financial support, all parties are printing campaign materials, particularly flex banners, for their candidates. The PUK and KDP have produced the highest volume of these banners. The New Generation Movement, however, has taken a minimalist approach, printing fewer banners and focusing primarily on featuring images of its leader, Shaswar Abdulwahid, along with the party's logo and list number.
The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission has set campaign spending limits for the upcoming Kurdistan Parliament election. The spending cap is calculated by multiplying 250 Iraqi dinars by the number of registered voters in each electoral district.
Here's the breakdown:
Sulaimani: 270.8 million dinars per candidate (1,083,248 registered voters)
Erbil: 253.7 million dinars per candidate (1,014,605 registered voters)
Duhok: 183.5 million dinars per candidate (738,069 registered voters)
Halabja: 15.7 million dinars per candidate (62,889 registered voters)
For political parties and coalitions, the total allowance is multiplied by the number of candidates they field in each district. For instance, in Sulaimani, parties with a full slate of 72 candidates (such as the PUK and the KDP) can spend up to 19.4 billion dinars on their campaign.