1992 Kurdistan Region general election
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 leader Massoud Barzani received slightly more votes than his main rival Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. With neither receiving a majority of the vote, a second round was due to be 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.
Electoral system
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.