Shia, Sunni factions rely on Kurds for new government formation
Two Shia delegations are set to visit the Kurdistan Region soon to seek an alliance with the Region’s leading parties.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – With ongoing attempts to form the largest parliamentary bloc to establish the new Iraqi government, Kurdish factions are expected to play a crucial role in leading one of the two rival Shia factions to announce the largest coalition.
Sunni and Shia factions are competing to gain the support of the Kurdish factions, mainly the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), for the formation of the new government.
Abubakir Karwani, a member of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), told Kurdistan 24 on Saturday that the Kurds currently have a strong position in Iraq and can play a decisive role in forming the next government.
“All Kurdish factions have common objectives they seek to achieve with Sunni and Shia factions,” Karwani said, adding that “this leads all the political parties to work to achieve the Kurdish goals although sometimes separately.”
Newzad Salih, a member of Coalition of Democracy and Justice, who along with the KIU and two other Kurdish parties have concerns over the elections results, reiterated that Kurds could achieve more through unity.
The National Front Coalition, composed of Sunni winning lists, announced on Saturday that it reached an initial agreement with the Kurdish factions to rebuild the country on sound foundations and to overcome the failures since the fall of the former regime in 2003.
Two joint Iraqi coalitions are competing to gain the support of Kurds for the formation of the next government. On one hand, Muqtada al-Sadr, Head of Sairoon, and current Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, head of al-Nasr Coalition, and on the other side, Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition and Hadi al-Amiri’s al-Fatih.
The Kurdish factions have not yet finalized their position on which side they support.
Two Shia delegations are set to visit the Kurdistan Region soon to seek an alliance with the Region’s leading parties, sources told Kurdistan 24 last week.
The delegations consist of Maliki’s State of Law bloc and Sadr’s Sairoon. Both coalitions are vying to enter a deal with the two leading parties in the Kurdistan Region, the KDP, and PUK.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
