EU MEETING: Massoud Barzani sets conditions for Kurds' participation in new Iraqi governement

10-5-2014 – Kurdpress – Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani set conditions for the central government to see the Kurds in the new government of the state that is due to be formed after the April 30 elections.  In a meeting with the head of the European Union Delegation to Iraq, Jana Hybaskova, and ambassadors and representatives of a number of EU countries in Iraq, Barzani shed light on Iraq political developments and the political process in the country.



“Before we join the government, we must receive guarantees that a number of key issues will be addressed by the new government and these include: power must lie in the council of ministers, and not in the hands of the prime minister; office of the commander in chief must be abolished, senior military commanders must be approved by the parliament; the army cannot be used for settling internal political disputes; implementation of Article 140 of the Constitution; resolution of the oil and gas dispute; funding for the Peshmarga forces; the holding of a long-overdue census,” said Barzani.

In response to a question from the French Ambassador about the participation of Kurds in the new government in Baghdad, Barzani said that the Kurds would need guarantees that their demands will be addressed.

Asked whether the Kurds will demand the post of Iraq president, Barzani said although the post is mainly ceremonial, but that it should be allocated to a candidate from the Kurdistan Region. The Kurdish president thanked the EU delegation for their visit to Kurdistan and for their endorsement of the election process. He said the EU can play an important role in strengthening the democratic process in the country.

“Your positive assessment of our elections gives us strength to continue in this path. Your support will help us address our shortcomings. The EU can play an important role in Iraq. Its role should be based on the promotion of democracy, upholding of the Constitution, and genuine power-sharing in the country. I believe this election is the last opportunity for the country to have real power-sharing and to enjoy stability. If genuine partnership is not implemented in the new government, our people will go for a referendum on a confederation in Iraq,” he went on to say in the meeting. On behalf of the EU, Ms. Jana Hybaskova thanked the KRG for their support to the more than 240,000 Syrian refugees currently living in Kurdistan and acknowledged that this has created great strain on the KRG resources. For his part, Barzani said that the KRG would continue to do what it can to support the Syrian refugees.

Iraqi Kurdistan a dictatorship? current president will break law, run for election again

 | عربي | کوردی

niqash | Hiwa Barznjy | Erbil | 25.04.2013

Elections will held in Iraqi Kurdistan in September. And despite the fact that local laws say he can’t, the current president may run for the job again. Local MPS are hatching several cunning plans to get around the law.

On April 18, the President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani, announced that parliamentary and presidential elections would be held in the semi autonomous region in September this year. And many others said that Barzani would also be running for President again, come September 21.

But there’s a problem there. According to current laws in the semi-autonomous region, the President of the region may only remain in power for two terms. A term is four years. And Barzani will complete his two terms in the middle of this year.

Yet many senior politicians in Iraqi Kurdistan – including the Barzani’s party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s spokesperson, Jafar Ibrahim Eminki - have said that they are trying to get around the law in order to allow Barzani to be nominated for a third term as President. Senior politicians from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan have also said that they don’t have anyone to replace Barzani.

Generally power is shared between two major parties in Iraqi Kurdistan - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) – and in practice the region is basically split into two separate zones of influence, with local administrations in Erbil and Dohuk controlled by the KDP and the Sulaymaniyah area mostly administered by the PUK.

There are also opposition parties in the region, including the relatively influential Change Movement, also known as Goran, which is formed of many dissatisfied with the two major parties.

 And opposition parties in Iraqi Kurdistan responded with strong criticism to the idea that Barzani might be nominated for President again. In a joint press conference, the Change Movement and the region’s two major Islamic parties, said that trying to change the law to allow Barzani to remain in power was a step toward dictatorship in Iraqi Kurdistan and was a blatant disregard of the law.

“We don’t have any problems with Barzani as a person,” Aram Sheikh Muhammad, director of the elections office for the Change Movement, told NIQASH. “The problem is that the law doesn’t allow him to run for another term.”

The critics of the plan for Barzani to run again suspect that the KDP and PUK have various ideas to circumvent the current law. One sees legal experts interpreting the law in such a way that Barzani is able to run for election again.

Ali Awni, a senior member of the KDP, gave a clue as to how that plan might work. He told NIQASH that in 2005, when Barzani first became President of the region, there were no actual elections held. Barzani was never elected and he was appointed President by the local parliament, via  political agreement between the leading political parties in the region.  

“The President was elected by the people for the first time in 2009,” Awni explained to NIQASH. “So if he runs again it will only be for election for the second time.”

Awni added that as yet, Barzani himself hadn’t suggested that he run for President again. He said it was an issue that the opposition parties were talking about publicly in order to pre-empt any such thing happening. This was a violation of Barzani’s own rights and “it didn’t serve the public interests,” Awni noted.

The second way of allowing Barzani to run again would involve MPS belonging to the KDP and PUK going back to parliament to amend the law – the KDP and PUK have 59 out of 111 seats in the Iraqi Kurdish parliament.

However the latter could run into problems as it appears that not all the members of PUK like the idea of Barzani running again. “If Barzani wants to nominate himself again, then it must be under an amended law,” Arez Abdullah, a leading member of the PUK, said. “But if the law isn’t amended then Barzani cannot be nominated to run. But up until now nobody in the PUK has even discussed this with the KDP. If they approached us on this issue, then we’d make a public announcement of you r position.”

Meanwhile Bakhtyar Saeed, a local lawyer and political observer, says that if Barzani is eventually nominated to run for a third term, the conflicts that already exist between the two ruling parties and the opposition movement in Iraqi Kurdistan will only deepen.  

“Barzani has finished two terms and he cannot re-nominate himself,” Saeed confirmed. “But the KDP is not ready to give away this position at any price. They believe that if the opposition succeeds in preventing Barzani’s nomination, then they will lose a lot of power in a very short time. That’s something they will never accept.”

http://www.niqash.org/articles/?id=3209