The Spokesman for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani, described the election of Kirkuk Governor and Provincial Council Chairman as illegal.
The party’s Spokesman, Mahmoud Mohammed, said: Regarding the recent changes and developments related to the formation of the local government in Kirkuk, we had observations after the announcement of the Kirkuk election results that the results do not reflect the true will of the city’s residents, but for the public interest of its people and taking into account the situation of that city and the entire political process, we overlooked that. Since then, many efforts have been made to reach an appropriate result and solution that serves the interests of all parties in Kirkuk, because its situation is exceptional and its solution must also be exceptional and serve the development, stability and well-being of the city’s residents.
He added: In continuation of these efforts, several meetings were held with the Arab and Turkmen parties. In the last meeting
on August 4, 2024 with President Barzani, which was attended by representatives of Arabs and Turkmen, it was emphasized that solutions should be directed towards taking into account the rights of all components of Kirkuk and within the framework of national consensus and consensus. Everyone also agreed not to repeat previous experiences, and the opinion of the party leader Barzani was that to reassure all parties, a neutral Kurdish governor should be appointed who is acceptable to all winning parties. Continuing the dialogues and exchange of views, it was agreed that the position of Kirkuk governor would be a three-way rotation. Each party demanded that the governor be from its component for the first time, and the president insisted that the governor be Kurdish for the first time. President Barzani also asked them, if they rejected the condition that the first governor be a neutral Kurd, they could go and agree with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, but they all refused to agree with the Patriotic Union to a
ppoint a governor. He continued: After that, several other meetings were held, and although the legal quorum was met to appoint the governor each time, the role of Mr. Al-Sudani’s efforts and mediation was taken into account because the file was in his hands and he made great efforts to bring the parties together and reach an appropriate solution for Kirkuk.
He stressed that what happened on August 10 at the Rashid Hotel in Baghdad to appoint a governor and a local government for Kirkuk without the knowledge of all parties and in the absence of representatives of the Turkmen, some Arabs and the Kurdistan Democratic Party is illegal, problematic and not on the right path. We believe that what was done cannot be an appropriate solution to overcome the problems and issues of the city of Kirkuk. He pointed out that solving and addressing the problems of that city and healing the wounds and suffering of its people cannot be done through outbidding, emotions and political games. The solution is not to act unilater
ally, not to try to marginalize the other parties, and for everyone to participate in the management of Kirkuk with good intentions and in order to serve the people.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency