Shafaq News/ On Thursday, the Arab bloc, the Turkmen bloc, and theKurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the Kirkuk Provincial Council announcedtheir decision to boycott a meeting scheduled for next week.
Raad Saleh, a member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, told Shafaq News,"The Arab group will boycott the meeting, as this meeting contradicts theongoing dialogues among the political parties elected to the council."
Saleh questioned, "If the PUK and Babylon had a majority in theKirkuk Council, why have they not formed the local government?" confirmingthat, along with the Turkmen bloc and the KDP, the Arab bloc will not attendthe meeting, as political negotiations among the parties are still ongoing.
Earlier, Babylon and Kirkuk's Strength and Will Alliance blocs decidedto postpone the Kirkuk Provincial Council's second session scheduled for todayuntil early next week in response to a request from Prime Minister MohammedShia al-Sudani.
Today, a source in Kirkuk revealed a "surprising" split withinthe Arab bloc, leading to a new agreement with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan(PUK) to form a larger bloc for local governance and share key positions,including that of the governor and the council presidency.
The source told Shafaq News Agency that "the sudden political splitin the Arab bloc saw three (out of 6) members align with the PUK to form a blocwith the largest number of seats." According to the initial agreement, aPUK candidate will assume the governorship, while one of the defected Arab blocmembers will take on the role of the council president.
The Kirkuk Provincial Council held its first session on July 11, chairedby Rakan Saeed al-Jubouri, who was relieved of his governorship due to reachingretirement age but retained his role as council president by virtue of beingthe oldest council member.
Despite the participation of 16 members in the session—including fivefrom the PUK, two from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), six from the Arabbloc representing Sovereignty (Al-Siyada), Leadership (Al-Kiyada), and the ArabCoalition, two from the Turkmen Front, and one Christian representative—thesession did not resolve the positions of the council president and thegovernor, leaving these positions pending further political negotiations.