Iraqi PM Abadi to campaign in Sulaimani on Wednesday: Candidate
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Prime Minister and head of the Nasr (Victory) alliance Haider al-Abadi is scheduled to visit the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province on Wednesday to lobby votes for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
“Today, Haider al-Abadi, as the leader of Nasr Alliance - not as Prime Minister of Iraq, will visit Sulaimani at 7:00 pm local time to see his followers and introduce Nasr’s candidates in the province to the people,” candidate and spokesperson for Nasr in Sulaimani Ibrahim Rasheed told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday morning.
He mentioned that Abadi has "two important promises" for his followers in the Kurdistan Region, but said the prime minister had not yet shared them. He said, “Abadi sees and deals with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq equally.”
According to Rashid, Abadi will also visit Erbil and Duhok provinces.
The list began electoral campaigns in Sulaimani on April 14. It has offices in Sulaimani, Erbil, and Duhok. Nasr has a total of 25 candidates in the Kurdistan Region; 10 in Sulaimani, nine in Erbil, and six in Duhok.
It is the first Iraqi election in which Shia parties have nominated candidates in the provinces within the Kurdistan Region.
After past national elections, the support of the Kurdish bloc within the Baghdad parliament has been crucial to the new prime minister receiving a clear majority and fulfilling his mandate to form a government.
The Nasr candidate stated that the main purpose of Abadi’s visit to the Kurdistan Region is for the electoral campaign, but he might meet Kurdish party leaders and officials as well.
The ties between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Federal Government of Iraq deteriorated considerably following the referendum on independence in the Kurdistan Region on Sep. 25.
Following the referendum, which saw 93 percent of voters favoring future secession, Abadi imposed punitive measures against the Kurdistan Region, including an international flight ban on the airports in Erbil and Sulaimani for over five months.
He also ordered security forces to launch a military operation to take over disputed territories then controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga, including the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.
In the past month, relations have reportedly improved, and delegations representing Baghdad and Erbil have met on multiple occasions, mostly focusing on security or administrative matters.
The national election is scheduled for May 12. A total of 6,904 candidates representing multiple parties are competing to fill 329 parliamentary seats.
Editing by John J. Catherine