Kurdistan Presidency to Maliki: Many have failed to stand against the will of Kurdistan's people

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Region Presidency (KRP) responded to remarks made by the former Iraqi Vice-President Nouri al-Maliki against the Kurdistan Region and the referendum on independence.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the KRP said Nouri al-Maliki has regularly taken a stance against the Kurdistan Region and the rights and will of its people as part of his election propaganda. 

“It is surprising how someone [Maliki] who was the source of destruction, disaster, and growth of terror in Iraq does not feel ashamed,” the statement said, adding that “He was the one who turned Iraq into the world's most corrupt country, and brought sectarian war into the country.”

The KRP statement added that during Maliki’s first term, Iraq had a $500 billion USD budget and accused him of "wasting half of it due to corruption and the other half in the destruction of Iraq."

“Someone like him, who only brought destruction to Iraq, should have ended his life or at least hidden himself from the people of Iraq,” the KRP statement proclaimed.

“In his [Maliki] statements and speeches, he threatens the people of Kurdistan. We would like to inform him that more powerful enemies have previously tried to stand against the will of the people of Kurdistan and have failed,” the statement read.

Maliki, who was Prime Minister of Iraq for eight years, in an interview with the Beirut-based al-Akhbari newspaper on Tuesday, declared that the Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani intends to establish an independent Kurdistan and that he must be stopped "by force" if needed.

Regarding Kurdistan's independence, the KRP statement noted that "the Iraqi constitution has clearly affirmed that adherence to the Constitution is a condition for Iraq to remain united, but it was Maliki who violated the Constitution during his term in power.”

The statement further added that independence and the right to self-determination is a natural right granted to the people of the Kurdistan Region, saying that “you [Maliki] have to know full well that Kurdistan and the Kurdish parties have a united voice and position on independence.”

Editing by G.H. Renaud