The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan officially submitted its list of candidates to the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC).

Rizgar Haji Hama, Head of the PUK Election Bureau, told his party,s media: "Today we officially submitted the list of candidates in the four constituencies (Sulaimani, Erbil, Duhok, Halabja) to the Iraqi High Independent Electoral Commission and we are ready for the Kurdistan parliamentary elections."

The statement came after the commission announced this afternoon that the PUK and PDK have not submitted the names of candidates and decided to extend the deadline until 12 tonight.

Earlier, Sarbast Lazgin, a member of the Political Bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said that the party will not participate in the elections in the current way and will not submit the names of candidates to the commission.