According to Baghdad Al-Youm, Mohammad Kamal said: "The changes that are taking place in the southern and central provinces of Iraq are of special importance, and Kirkuk should also join these provinces."

Mohammad Kamal added: the post of Kirkuk governor is for the Kurds and the current governor was appointed to this post in abnormal conditions. For this reason, this post should be returned to those who deserve it, and the recent elections showed the political and electoral position of the Kurds in this province.

It should be noted that following the independence referendum of the Kurdistan Region in September 2017, the government of the then Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi dismissed Najmuddin Karim, the governor of Kirkuk, and introduced Rakan Saeed Jabouri as the acting governor of the province.

The Kurds accuse Jabouri of pressuring the Kurds with the aim of expelling them from the province and continuing to implement policy of Arabization (settling Arabs) in Kirkuk and its cities and subdivisions, and call for the re-election of a Kurdish governor to this province.

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