ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Gorran has agreed to the creation of a second deputy president position, a party member said, possibly finally breaking the political impasse that has stalled formation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s new cabinet.
“In the beginning, we rejected the Kurdistan Region president having two deputies. But now, since we don’t want the process to be delayed even longer, we have reached the last stage of finalizing the agreement and it is highly expected for the agreement to be officially signed between Gorran and KDP on Tuesday,” said Jalal Mohammed, a Gorran member of the parliament’s legal committee.
Parliamentary elections were held on September 30, 2018, with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) coming out on top, winning 45 seats in the 111-seat legislature, but not securing an outright majority. It has spent nearly seven months trying to build a governing coalition with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which won 21 seats, and Gorran, which has 12 seats.
Gorran proposed a reform package that included amending the presidential law so that the president is elected by the parliament, not a public vote. KDP agreed to the proposal. In talks about distributing positions and roles in the government, the PUK requested the creation of a second deputy for the president. After first resisting, Gorran has now agreed.
“We as Gorran are a responsible party and we understand the dangers of this phase. Hence we don’t want government formation to be delayed anymore so people are no longer affected by the delay,” explained Ashna Abdulla, an MP with Gorran in Kurdistan Region’s parliament, of her party’s stance.
Jalal Mohammed predicted that KDP and PUK will ink an agreement soon after Gorran signs, “and there’s a strong possibility that Wednesday will be announced as the next parliament session.”
The bill amending the presidency law was introduced in parliament in late March and MPs have subsequently met to discuss it twice, most recently on April 3.
The government-formation process has dragged on for months. The KDP first reached a deal with Gorran in February, and then arrived at a similar pact with the PUK in March. But disagreements over distributing cabinet positions lingered. Gorran and PUK also disagreed over the president’s deputies.
PUK, which shares control of the security forces with the KDP, wanted creation of a second deputy president who would be responsible for military affairs. Gorran, which does not have an armed force, objected, arguing that the new post would be a financial drain and, if created, should be solely an administrative position.
The details of the final agreements the parties may sign this week are not immediately known.
The PUK leadership has approved the agreement reached with the KDP and is waiting on the KDP to sign it, Rewaz Fayeq, PUK member and head of parliament’s finance committee, told Rudaw English on Monday.
The nearly seven month delay in forming the government “is normal,” said Nechirvan Barzani on Monday. He is currently prime minister of the Kurdistan Region and is tipped to be the next president.
“The interests of the Kurdistan Region require that enough time is dedicated for the process of dialogue on forming the next government cabinet because we want our country to have political and social stability along with harmony, reconciliation, economic growth and prosperity,” he said when making comments on Kurdish Journalism Day.
“The parties should be given the time they need to resolve the problems,” he stressed.