Ascension of Halabja to province made political hostage to Shiite-Sunni discord, says senior official to Iraqi parliament

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Yadgar Mahmoud, a member of the Legal Committee of the Iraqi Parliament, announced on Friday that all the legal measures and procedures have been undertaken to ascend the status of Halabja into a province. She adds, “The only thing that remains is to discuss and ratify this ascension in a parliamentary session.”   

“The discord between Shiites and Sunnis has taken the case of the ascension of Halabja to the province as hostage. She argued that both groups fear the repercussion of this into their own areas and use this against each other. She notes, “they are not eager to vote on the ascension of Halabja to the province.”

Yadgar Mahmoud highlighted that another reason behind the delay in voting on a bill regarding Halabja goes back to the financial matters. “Any city in Iraq that is ascended to a province requires allocation of specific budget, and it does add to the costs of running the government,” she adds.

She continued and underlined that, “yet another reason is the political perspectives of both Shiites and Sunnis regarding the Kurdish nationalistic struggles and all the human tolls this struggle has taken.”

“To what extent do they agree with the policy pursued against the Kurds in Iraq over the past hundred years?” she asks.

She believes that both fear each other’s potential to turn different areas under their control into provinces and use that against each other.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday in a ceremony laid the foundation stone for the Halabja-Tuwaqut-Qalija road and the Tuwaqut Bridge.

During the ceremony, where the Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani also attended, Prime Minister Barzani delivered remarks, addressing the people of Halabja. “People of this region have suffered considerably and have laid their lives for Kurdistan. Halabja is a symbol of sacrifice and suffering of the entire Kurdistan. It is, therefore, regrettable that the people of this area have not been provided with the services that they so deserve. We, and all the government officials, are indebted to the people of Halabja, all the relatives of the martyrs, and all those that brutally perished in the Anfal campaign.”