PUK encourages KDP and Gorran work on parliament reactivation feud

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region —

In its recent leadership meeting, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) recommended its politburo initiate reconciliation talks between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Change Movement (Gorran), as KDP and Gorran remain without an agreement on the reactivation of parliament ahead of September’s independence referendum.

The PUK leadership body convened on Sunday and issued a statement afterwards, declaring that the party supports the upcoming independence referendum on the condition that it is endorsed by legislation passed in Kurdistan’s parliament.

“Kurdistan’s parliament should be reactivated, which should then pass legislation on the referendum. And we as the PUK will make other efforts to bring the KDP and Gorran party to an agreement so that the parliament is reactivated,” Hamidi Haji Ghali, a PUK leadership member, told Rudaw.

The majority opinion among the PUK leadership members had been that the party should support the process of holding the referendum, arguing that the vote needs legal support and the parliament should be reactivated for this reason.

“We insist on the reactivation of the parliament and issuance of a specific law on the referendum. This process needs unity and unanimity. And the PUK will continue its efforts with the KDP, Gorran and other parties,” Arez Abdullah, a PUK leadership member, told Rudaw.

Gorran, which holds the position of the speaker of parliament, has already refused a joint offer from the KDP and PUK to reactivate the parliament, insisting that it does not accept "conditional" terms attached to the initiative, Gorran spokesperson Shorish Haji said in a televised statement on June 14.

Rudaw has learnt that some PUK leadership members had in the beginning of Sunday’s meeting asked that the question of reopening the parliament not be discussed, arguing that this issue is related to the KDP and the Gorran party.

“We tried our best until Masoud Barzani finally agreed to the Gorran party retaking the position of parliament speaker and the first parliamentary session to be chaired by Yousif Mohammed. And the Gorran party informed us they had no problem with changing Yousif Mohammed, but they have now reneged on that position,” a PUK leadership member told Rudaw speaking on the condition on anonymity. “The PUK shouldn’t therefore pay the price for the conduct of the KDP and the Gorran party any longer.”

“The PUK leadership body will convene after the feast [Eid al-Fitr on Sunday]. The PUK will therefore try to hold talks with the KDP and Gorran party before the feast. The PUK will not enter the dispute as to how the parliament should be reactivated, whether it should be done so according to the liking of the KDP or Gorran party. They themselves should come to an agreement on this,” Nasrullah Surchi, a PUK leadership member, told Rudaw.

The statement which the PUK leadership body issued after its recent meeting had stated that the KDP’s response to the PUK’s roadmap was read out in the meeting, and the PUK leadership members decided to communicate their opinions to their politburo. The PUK and KDP politburos will then discuss the matter to reach some common goal and real partnership at all levels.

In its response to the PUK’s roadmap, the KDP had agreed peoples’ living conditions and salaries should be improved, also arguing that the parliament should be reactivated through agreement among the region’s political parties, Surchi added.

The KDP and PUK politburos met on June 13. In the meeting, the KDP had agreed to the reactivation of the parliament and its first session to be chaired by Yousif Mohammed, also agreeing to the appointment of a new speaker and the Gorran party assigning someone else to replace Yousif Mohammed. This message was communicated to the Gorran party which now rejects the idea.

“The KDP supports the reactivation of the parliament, reaching an agreement and national unanimity. We think it’s good for the parliament to be reactivated before the referendum is held. However, holding the referendum doesn’t need to be decided by the parliament. Rather, it is related to all the people of Kurdistan. It is the right of a nation. In addition, the parties have reached an agreement on this and the president of the Kurdistan Region has assigned the (electoral) commission to make preparations for this national process to go ahead,” Sarbast Lazgin, a KDP leadership member, told Rudaw.

The Kurdish parliament has not convened since October 2015 when security forces in Erbil, largely under the control of the KDP, blocked Speaker Yousif Mohammed, a Gorran party member, from returning to the capital where the parliament is located.

The row between the the KDP and Gorran worsened when protests broke out in areas under the influence of the Gorran Movement in Sulaimani province in October 2015 leading to the deaths of several KDP members. The KDP accused Gorran of orchestrating the violent protests. Gorran denied the accusations.

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