25 February 2019 - 00:01

KDP, PUK tension is over Kirkuk, spokesman says

<p style="text-align: left;">The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Latif Sheikh Omer, stated disputes between the party and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the delay in the formation of the new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are due to a disagreement between the two sides over the fate of Kirkuk.

The spokesman told Kurdpress in an interview that meetings between the two parties led into passing an 18-article deal but the two sides failed to finalize it as they were at odds over some articles, particularly the Kurdish-majority province of Kirkuk which is currently under the control of the central government in Baghdad.

He stated that the PUK wanted to bring an end to the unnatural situation in Kirkuk and appoint a member of the party as it won the majority of the votes in the province but the KDP refused to accept it and the PUK, therefore, decided not to participate in the recent parliament meeting which elected a KDP member as parliament speaker.

Sheikh Omer went on to add that the KDP follows a different policy to normalize situation in Kirkuk and has therefore demanded the PUK to wait for Baghdad to decide the situation but the PUK has made a different decision and wants a Kurdish governor to be elected for the province after agreements with all ethnic and religious sides in Kirkuk, including Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs and then the political, security and economic situation in Kirkuk would improve.

The spokesman further denied the KDP wants one of its members to be appointed as the governor of the province but the rift over the situation is that the KDP wants the provincial council of Kirkuk to hold a meeting, make new measures about the situation in the province and the election of a governor be postponed to another time, adding that the KDP has vowed to cooperate with the PUK in electing a new governor for Kirkuk but there is no guarantee that the party would not change mind in the future.

The spokesman expressed his optimism in bringing an end to tensions between Kurdish parties in Iraq and in finding a solution for the situation in Kirkuk, underscoring that the situation of the province would be normalized only after a governor is appointed.

He, however, stated that there is no need for Baghdad to mediate in solving the tension but welcomed the central government’s cooperation in finding a solution.

Reporter’s code: 50101

News Code 35867