SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — The Kurdish political establishment faced its first real test in an election Saturday for a president and 111-seat parliament in a semiautonomous region mired in a bitter dispute with Baghdad over oil and land that threatens Iraq’s stability.
Mainstream groups were widely expected to maintain their hold on power. But voters expressed hope a strong opposition challenge would lead to reforms amid allegations of corruption and financial improprieties among the entrenched political parties that have held sway in this northern area for decades.
“I do believe that we will see a more activist parliament because of the active role of the opposition party,” said Hewa Ahmed Hussein, a 34-year-old merchant in Irbil.
At the heart of the push for reform was a group called Change, which is led by Nosherwan Mustafa, a former top official in one of the mainstream parties. Its success in campaigning forced an alliance between the two dominant parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
The opposition was expected to make some inroads in parliament, but Iraq’s electoral commission said it could take a week to count the results.
Polling hours were extended to accommodate a large turnout for the first regional election since 2005.
The Kurds gained autonomy after rising up against Saddam Hussein in 1991, aided by a U.S.-British no-fly zone that helped keep the former dictator’s armed forces at bay.
Nesreen Doski, a 31-year-old housekeeper, said she did not think the leadership would change but she hoped for better policies.
“I do not think there will be a new era in Kurdistan,” she said. “I guess the current leaders will keep their posts and they will improve the services being offered to the people.”
The balloting comes as U.S. commanders warn that tensions between Kurds and Arabs could erupt into a new front in the Iraq conflict even as violence declines elsewhere in the country and U.S. forces prepare to withdraw by the end of 2011.
The Kurdish region has enjoyed relative calm since the 2003 U.S. invasion that ousted Hussein, but ethnic rivalries have fueled attacks in nearby areas, particularly the disputed city of Kirkuk.
President Barack Obama has pressured Iraq’s central government to be more flexible about sharing power and allowing provincial governments a greater role in decision-making.
