PUK delegation to visit Baghdad on Sunday to secure ministerial position

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A delegation from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) will send a delegation to Baghdad to secure a minister post in the new Iraqi government, the party’s leadership council said on Saturday.

The delegation will visit Baghdad on Sunday to present their candidate, Khaled Shawani, for the Ministry of Justice in the federal government, Baghdad today reported, adding that new Iraqi President Barham Salih would also attend the meeting.

Iraq’s new government has yet to complete its cabinet as political parties wrestle for representation in the parliament six months after a controversial election marred with claims of corruption and vote tampering.

In late October, the Iraqi Parliament gave its vote of confidence to 14 ministers, but candidates to lead eight other ministries, including the coveted posts of Interior and Defense, were not included in the ballot. MPs were due to elect the remainder, but this has so far been delayed.

Several Kurdish MPs in Baghdad, meanwhile, have called for a sufficient representation of Kurds in the country’s new cabinet.

Miran Mohammed, a PUK MP in Iraq, called on ministers in Baghdad to consider the Kurds in the new government formation.

“If the Kurds are not represented in Baghdad, then the new government will not be successful,” he told Kurdistan 24.

“The people who have suffered the most injustice in Iraq [such as the Kurds] should not be ignored.”

Nahro Rwandiz, a Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK) MP in Baghdad, said he hopes the Kurdish issues are addressed in the new Iraqi Parliament.

“The political factions from Kurdistan want to be well-represented in Iraq,” he told Kurdistan 24.

“We want to be able to gain more positions to improve Kurdish rights and to address the Kurdish issues in the parliament.”