The Kurdistan Democratic Party led preliminary results on Monday following the Kurdistan Region of Iraq's parliamentary elections, with rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan hinting it might not accept the outcome of the vote.
People living in the autonomous region in northern Iraq voted on Sunday in the first election since the defeat of ISIS.
The region is divided into areas controlled by rivals KDP and PUK. The Kurdistan parliament has been largely paralysed since 2015 following a dispute over then President Masoud Barzani seeking an extension of his term, while both parties embraced a failed referendum on independence last year.
Preliminary results suggest that rather than turn against the entrenched parties, voters largely cast their ballots along previous party lines.
"As 75 per cent of the votes have been counted, the initial results indicate that the KDP is currently leading in the elections by gaining 42 seats in parliament, and PUK has come in second by winning 20 seats," a KDP official, Jangish Awakaly, told The National.
But allegations of fraud clouded the outcome of the vote.
The PUK said on Sunday night that it might not recognise the results of the election before backtracking.
In a statement, the party said its decision to reject the results in several provinces was based on what it described as violations in the voting process. The statement was later withdrawn, with some officials in the party, including Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, claiming it was "too early to judge the results".
On Saturday, the Kurdish election commission issued instructions to voters on what type of identification was required for voting, in an attempt to prevent fraud, it said.
The last four years have been challenging for the KRG – the election is an opportunity for voters to create positive changes in the region, a senior Kurdish official told The National.
An estimated three million people were eligible to vote across three provinces in the region, but many were disillusioned after years of debt problems, corruption and cuts to public salaries.
"People had the chance to cast their votes and elect the list they believe in and trust in, for the party that has demonstrated leadership and the party that has demonstrated good governance," the official said.
Meanwhile in Baghdad, politicians are expected to meet on Monday night to elect a new president among seven possible candidates.
Under the constitution, if no candidate wins a two-thirds majority, the contest can be rerun on Tuesday or at a later date.
An informal power-sharing arrangement claims that senior government roles are divided between the predominant ethno-sectarian groups; with the prime minister being a Shiite Arab, the speaker of parliament a Sunni Arab, and the president a Kurd.
Yet, Kurdistan's two historic parties are competing for the post and they were unable to agree on a nomination for the president, something that threatens their usually united front in Baghdad.
The KDP nominated Fuad Hussein, a former chief of staff to the former President Barzani. The PUK named former Iraqi deputy prime minister Barham Salih as their choice, asserting that the post should be held by one of its members.
Mr Hussein, 69, is a Shiite Kurd, who will likely win support from members of the Shiite-majority in Baghdad.
Mr Salih, a 58-year-old moderate, has served in both administrations, once as Iraqi deputy premier and Kurdish prime minister.
According to a tacit accord between the two parties, the PUK would hold the federal presidency and the KDP the post of Iraqi Kurdistan's president.
The late Jalal Talabani served as federal president for eight years.
But the Iraqi Kurdish presidency post has been left vacant since Mr Barzani resigned at the end of his mandate in the wake of the independence referendum.
Iraq's Kurds have played a key role in the war against ISIS and had hoped that their role would boost international support for statehood.
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Read more:
Kurdish candidates court Baghdad ahead of presidential vote
Kurdish PUK party says it will not recognise election results
Angry Iraqi Kurds file election complaints with Baghdad
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
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Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
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