New Generation has candidates ready for parliament session
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The New Generation bloc in the Kurdistan Region parliament said on Sunday they will take part in Monday's session and will also have a candidate for the post of parliament speaker.
“We will take part in the session whenever it is held,” Kawa Abdulqadir, the deputy head of the New Generation bloc said in a press conference.
He was speaking after a meeting at the headquarters of the Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal) in Sulaimani.
“Unlike other parties, we as the New Generation bloc will have candidates for positions of parliament speaker and deputy speaker,” he added.
Turkmen parties said on Thursday that they would use the weekend to decide on a candidate for the parliament's second deputy speaker.
Delays between the dominate Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union Kurdistan (PUK) have hindered the formation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Upstart New Generation has railed hard against a PUK and KDP dominated government. New Generation won 8 seats, the PUK 21, and the KDP 45.
“The New Generation has in the past and present proven that it doesn’t follow any party. Rather, it has its own agenda,” he detailed.
High-level Change Movement (Gorran) and Komal delegations also met to consult with each other on Sunday in Sulaimani.
"It was normal meeting. We have had regular meetings with Gorran to discuss the political situation of Kurdistan Region," Komal spokesperson Rebwar Hamad told Rudaw.
Gorran informed Komal about details of its agreement reached with the KDP on Saturday.
"[However,] we have not officially discussions on government formation," he added.
On February 5, after months of wrangling, the KDP and PUK appeared to have finally reached an agreement to hold a parliament session and the Kirkuk Provincial Council meeting simultaneously on February 18.
The KDP and PUK, which collectively hold a majority of seats in the parliament, appeared to have reached an agreement on Friday. However on Saturday, the PUK claimed the jointly-read statement was not binding because it was not written nor signed.
Discussing Friday’s meeting on Saturday, the PUK said it is committed to “the basis of February 5’s political agreement which was ratified between the KDP and PUK politburos, which detailed the meetings of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, the election of a governor and the normalization of the province as well as the Kurdistan Parliament’s session.”
The Kurdistan Region held a delayed parliamentary election on September 30.