Politics

Lahur Sheikh Jangi to form new entity for Kurdistan Region Parliamentary elections

“Unfortunately, our party is currently deprived of its values and a group of goals. And from an effective party, they have made it an institution to protect the interests of a parasitic minority,” Jangi stated.

Kurdistan 24 2023/09/26 19:15

Lahur Sheikh Jangi, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), speaking in a video message, Sept. 26, 2023. (Photo: Lahur Sheikh Jangi/ Facebook)

Kurdistan Lahur Sheikh Jangi PUK PUK caucus

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Lahur Sheikh Jangi, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), on Tuesday released a video message regarding the PUK caucus and its ongoing issues.

Jangi said that the current PUK leadership has decided to hold a forced caucus in violation of all the principles upon which the party was founded. “The PUK is heading towards major division and internal conflict,” he said.

In addition, he pointed out that the current PUK leadership is seeking to “impose their intentions by force,” and is arbitrarily inviting several hundred people to the caucus hall on Sept. 27 in Sulaimani for their applause as a form of toadyism and adulation.

"They [current PUK leadership] have taken the blood of several of their comrades and arrested, tortured, and expelled many members of the PUK, thus questioning the name, reputation, and history of the PUK as a social democratic party,” he reiterated.

Jangi is referring to the purported expungement of his followers from the PUK after his administration was sacked in June 2021, and he further describes the ongoing systematic persecution of his followers by the party’s new leadership.

He also stated that “it is fortunate that the facts have now been revealed and that the Kurdish people and loyal comrades of the PUK have gained a full understanding of [the leadership's] intentions.”

Moreover, he revealed that in the upcoming Kurdistan Region Parliamentary election — set to take place on Feb. 25, 2024 — he will form his own entity to compete with the PUK.

Previously on Tuesday, senior PUK member Mullah Bakhtiar withdrew from the upcoming fifth PUK parliamentary bloc, citing frustrations with PUK leadership and the sale of its “political dignity.”