Barzani to Kurdistan 24: Extensive post-Eid dialogue should help ease tensions

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Former president of the Kurdistan Region and head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, on Friday called upon all Iraqi and Kurdish political entities to hold extensive meetings after the Eid al-Fitr holidays to resolve “problems that have been plaguing the country for years.”

Barzani’s call came in a statement the leader’s media office released in response to a Kurdistan 24 question about his thoughts on the Iraqi political climate and the May 12 parliamentary election.

“I hope all political parties after the holidays engage in a dialogue to reach a peaceful and rational solution, based on the constitution, which serves the interests of all the peoples of Iraq,” Barzani told Kurdistan 24.

The 2018 election saw record-low voter turnout and post-election fraud allegations began to pile up as political parties faced off. However, talks of alliances between the different coalitions to form government are still ongoing.

Parliament also recently passed a law to replace the electoral commission with nine judges, charged with the manual recount of votes in all provinces, and canceled early and displaced persons’ votes in the Kurdistan Region.

Kurdistan Region leaders have long since been critical of Iraq’s negligence toward Articles that address the rights of the Kurdish people in the territories contested between the capitals of Baghdad and Erbil.

One such constitutional rights, with which Kurds are most concerned, lies in Article 140 which calls for a referendum to be held in the disputed territories for its people to decide whether they wish to be governed by Baghdad or Erbil.

“We support all genuine efforts at resolving the current political issues,” he said, adding that he especially welcomes a resolution to the differences involving the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government through the constitution. 

“This support is specially bound by abidance to the Iraqi Constitution. Abidance by the Constitution is the only way forward to achieving a peaceful and suitable solution.”

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, and other Kurdish parties, including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), called for Kurdish unity on the issue of the Constitution when helping form the next Iraqi government.

Media outlets on Tuesday reported the consolidation of an alliance between the al-Sairoon Coalition and Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi’s al-Fatih Coalition, which both the KDP and the PUK welcomed in a joint statement later in the day.

Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Haider Abadi, have put out calls for all political blocs to meet after the Eid al-Fitr holiday to work out an outline to move forward with the formation of a parliament and the government through a general consensus.

Editing by Nadia Riva