Masoud Barzani: Kurdistan ready to contribute to Iraqi political process if certain conditions are met

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani on Thursday expressed the Kurdistan Region’s readiness to contribute to the political process in Iraq under certain conditions.

The KDP President made the comments in a meeting with outgoing Ambassador to Iraq Fumio Iwai and Japanese Consul General in Erbil Katsumi Moriyasu.

“President Barzani stressed the readiness of the Kurdistan Region to help with the political process in Iraq and find solutions to problems if the principles of partnership are fulfilled and if there is balance taken into account in government institutions,” a readout of the meeting posted on Barzani’s official website stated.

Iwai, whose term as Ambassador of Iraq is set to end, expressed “the concern of his country toward the next phase of the political process in Iraq.”

Iraq recently held parliamentary elections marred with allegations of fraud and corruption leading to the outgoing Parliament passing a law last month which approved the manual recount of votes across the country.

Influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Sairoon Coalition took the lead in the May 12 polls, securing 54 seats out of a total 329 followed by Iran-backed Hadi al-Amiri’s al-Fatih Coalition with 47 seats and current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s Nasr (Victory) alliance with 42.

Meanwhile, the KDP, the Kurdistan Region’s leading party, finished fourth with 25 seats.

Barzani also met on Thursday with Riyad Fehmi, head of the Iraqi Communist Party, part of the Sadr-led Sairoon, and an accompanying delegation.

According to a readout of the meeting, the KDP President reiterated the need to form the next Iraqi government on the basis of three principles: partnership, harmony, and balance.

“The implementation of these principles requires the identification of guarantees and clear steps to resolve all issues before people are assigned positions and responsibilities,” the statement published on his website read.

“The main priority of the Kurdistan Region is a commitment to the three principles and not persons and positions.”