PUK council, Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, Photo: Chawrash’s fb
SULAIMANI, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) General Leadership Council said on Sunday that the events of Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament’s May 7 session represented a dangerous development that has the potential undermine national unity and political cooperation between Iraqi Kurdistan’s parties.
During the session, Parliament voted by a bare majority to strip Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) lawmaker Soran Omar of his parliamentary immunity. He had earlier accused Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani of corruption, prompting Barzani to file a legal complaint against the opposition MP.
The measure passed largely on the back of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) votes, with 57 of the legislature’s 111 members voting in favor. Lawmakers from the PUK, the Gorran Movement, the New Generation Movement, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, and the KIG all walked out in protest over the vote, including Speaker Rewaz Fayaq, who refused to preside over the session.
“In light of those developments, the General Leadership Council has decided to cooperate and consult with the other political parties to prevent the use of national and democratic institutions, such as Parliament, for partisan interests,” PUK General Leadership Council said in a statement.
In its statement, the PUK also addressed the issue of administrative decentralization, saying that it was “seriously” weighing the process. It noted that decentralization was part of the program of government that it agreed to when it formed the KRG’s Ninth Cabinet along with the KDP and Gorran.
“[Decentralization] should be implemented as soon as possible.”
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