# 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 (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani received slightly more votes than his main rival Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). With neither receiving a majority of the vote, a second round was due to 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.

## Conduct

The elections were described as free and fair by international observers. Amnesty International reports that some smaller parties alleged irregularities.

## Results
### President

| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Masoud Barzani | Kurdistan Democratic Party | 466,819 | 48.12 |
| | Jalal Talabani | Patriotic Union of Kurdistan | 441,057 | 45.47 |
| | Osman Abdulaziz | Kurdistan Islamic Movement | 38,865 | 4.01 |
| | Mahmoud Othman | Kurdistan Socialist Party | 23,309 | 2.40 |
| Total | Total | Total | 970,050 | 100.00 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 970,050 | 98.72 |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 12,599 | 1.28 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 982,649 | 100.00 |
| Source: Wanche, Dahlman |||||

### National Assembly

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Kurdistan Democratic Party | 437,879 | 45.27 | 51 |
| | Patriotic Union of Kurdistan | 423,833 | 43.82 | 49 |
| | Kurdistan Islamic Movement | 49,108 | 5.08 | 0 |
| | Kurdistan Socialist Party | 24,882 | 2.57 | 0 |
| | Iraqi Communist Party | 21,123 | 2.18 | 0 |
| | Kurdistan Popular Democratic Party | 9,903 | 1.02 | 0 |
| | Independent Democrats | 501 | 0.05 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 967,229 | 100.00 | 100 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 967,229 | 99.51 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 4,724 | 0.49 | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 971,953 | 100.00 | |
| Assyrian seats |||||
| | Assyrian Democratic Movement | 6,543 | 54.66 | 4 |
| | Kurdistan Christian Unity | 2,757 | 23.03 | 1 |
| | Khaldu-Ashur Communist Party | 2,134 | 17.83 | 0 |
| | Democratic Christians | 537 | 4.49 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 11,971 | 100.00 | 5 |
| Source: Dahlman |||||

#### By governorate
##### Dahuk Governorate

| Party | Party | Votes | % |
| | Kurdistan Democratic Party | 168,683 | 85.47 |
| | Patriotic Union of Kurdistan | 15,184 | 7.69 |
| | Kurdistan Popular Democratic Party | 6,051 | 3.07 |
| | Kurdistan Islamic Movement | 3,874 | 1.96 |
| | Kurdistan Socialist Party | 1,983 | 1.00 |
| | Iraqi Communist Party | 1,546 | 0.78 |
| | Independent Democrats | 49 | 0.02 |
| Total | Total | 197,370 | 100.00 |
Note: Dahuk included the Aqrah and Shekhan Districts which were officially part of Nineveh Governorate.

##### Erbil Governorate

| Party | Party | Votes | % |
| | Kurdistan Democratic Party | 152,143 | 45.58 |
| | Patriotic Union of Kurdistan | 148,352 | 44.44 |
| | Kurdistan Islamic Movement | 11,092 | 3.32 |
| | Iraqi Communist Party | 11,047 | 3.31 |
| | Kurdistan Socialist Party | 8,883 | 2.66 |
| | Kurdistan Popular Democratic Party | 2,101 | 0.63 |
| | Independent Democrats | 184 | 0.06 |
| Total | Total | 333,802 | 100.00 |
Note: The Makhmour district was at this time still under control of the Iraqi government, no elections were held there.

##### As Sulaymaniya Governorate

| Party | Party | Votes | % |
| | Patriotic Union of Kurdistan | 207,168 | 59.54 |
| | Kurdistan Democratic Party | 92,449 | 26.57 |
| | Kurdistan Islamic Movement | 29,334 | 8.43 |
| | Kurdistan Socialist Party | 11,978 | 3.44 |
| | Iraqi Communist Party | 5,693 | 1.64 |
| | Kurdistan Popular Democratic Party | 1,118 | 0.32 |
| | Independent Democrats | 213 | 0.06 |
| Total | Total | 347,953 | 100.00 |

##### Diyala Governorate

| Party | Party | Votes | % |
| | Patriotic Union of Kurdistan | 53,129 | 60.28 |
| | Kurdistan Democratic Party | 24,604 | 27.92 |
| | Kurdistan Islamic Movement | 4,808 | 5.46 |
| | Iraqi Communist Party | 2,837 | 3.22 |
| | Kurdistan Socialist Party | 2,038 | 2.31 |
| | Kurdistan Popular Democratic Party | 663 | 0.75 |
| | Independent Democrats | 55 | 0.06 |
| Total | Total | 88,134 | 100.00 |
Only two areas in the Diyala Governorate were under Kurdish control: Darbandikhan and Khanaqin.