Peregraf
The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has rescheduled the Gorran (Change) Movement's founding conference for May 24, 2025, after its initial attempt on April 26 failed to achieve the required quorum. The Kurdsat faction, which organized the April conference, secured only 435 attendees—far below the 1,063 members (50%+1 of the original 2,126 founders from 2017) needed to validate proceedings.
IHEC observers present on April 26 confirmed the lack of quorum and departed without formalizing any procedures. In a statement, IHEC clarified: "The May 24 conference must meet the legal quorum based on actual attendance, and all decisions will require majority approval from participating members."
Deepening Factional Divisions
The rescheduling comes amid escalating tensions between Gorran's two rival factions:
1. The Kurdsat Faction: Led by acting General Coordinator Dana Ahmed Majid, which organized the April 26 conference.
2. The Zargata Hill Faction: Led by the sons of late founder Nawshirwan Mustafa, which largely boycotted the April event.
The Zargata Hill group asserts its April 5 conference—where it elected a 55-member National Counciland adopted a political platform—was legitimate. However, IHEC has refused recognition, as it did not monitor the meeting despite initially approving its date.
Without an IHEC-recognized founding conference, Gorran risks exclusion from Iraq’s November 11 parliamentary elections—a critical blow to a party once considered the Kurdistan Region's foremost opposition force.
Gorran’s Rise, Challenges, and Decline
Gorran was founded by Nawshirwan Mustafa along with several former officials from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The movement made its electoral debut in the 2009 Kurdistan parliamentary elections, winning 25 out of 100 available seats, in addition to 11 seats allocated for specific communities. This result took the two dominant parties, especially the PUK, by surprise.
Nawshirwan Mustafa's initiative tapped into widespread dissatisfaction with the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), positioning Gorran as the primary opposition force in the Kurdistan Parliament and launching a campaign of dissent. For the first four years in parliament, Gorran operated as an opposition party; however, after the 2013 parliamentary elections, where it secured 24 seats, it joined the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
In October 2015, the Gorran-affiliated speaker of parliament was prevented from returning to Erbil, and Gorran ministers and officials were removed from their government positions by a decision from the KDP Political Bureau due to ongoing conflicts. Following Nawshirwan Mustafa's death, the Gorran Movement encountered numerous challenges, resulting in the departure of various leaders and factions. In 2019, during the formation of the ninth cabinet of the KRG led by Masrour Barzani, Gorran re-entered the power structure, obtaining four ministries and a vice presidency in the Kurdistan Region Presidency, which negatively impacted its public image.
In the last Kurdistan parliamentary elections, the movement won only one out of 100 seats. It currently has one MP and aligns with the Kurdsat group, led by Dana Ahmed Majid, the acting general coordinator.