KDP’s Vala Farid elected as speaker of Iraqi Kurdistan parliament
KDP’s Vala Farid elected as speaker of Kurdistan parliament, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, February 18, 2019. Photo: Farid’s FB
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament elected a speaker and two deputy speakers during a session in Erbil on Monday.
Vala Farid of the Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) will serve as Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament. KDP’s Hemin Ahmed Salih, known as Hêmin Hawrami, will serve first deputy speaker.
Vala Farid received 64 votes, Hawrami was elected first deputy with 68 votes and Turkman Reform Party MP Muna Kahveci voted second deputy with 60.
A consensus nominee from the Turkmen parties Muna Qahwachi will serve as second deputy speaker.
Farid nomination by the KDP came after the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) refused to attend Monday’s decisive session as it failed to reach a political agreement with the KDP.
However, KDP’s Hemin Hawrami made it clear that the nomination of MP Farid is solely to fill the position, and that the new speaker from his party will step down whenever a political agreement is reached with the PUK to send its nominee.
Vala Farid is the first woman taking the position of Kurdistan parliament speaker.
New Generation nominated Sipan Salim, known as Sipan Amedi, for speaker, Kawa Abdulqadir for first deputy speaker, and Mizhda Mahmoud as for second deputy speaker.
As many as 90 lawmakers attended the parliament’s session at 3 p.m. on Monday.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) boycotted the session after being unable to finalize an agreement with the KDP, with disagreement over the Kirkuk governorship being the main remaining sticking point.
PUK Spokesman Latif Sheikh Omer said the party’s caucus would not participate in the parliament’s sessions and the new cabinet until the issue of the Kirkuk governor is resolved.
The vote came after an intense few days of negotiations with the KDP concluding a deal with the Gorran Movement earlier today.
The Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) and the Kurdistan Islamic Group attended the session but they did not vote for any of the candidates. The KIU left the session later.
The election of the speaker paves the way for the formation of a new cabinet. The KDP has nominated the current Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council Masrour Barzani for prime minister.
The New Generation Movement (Newey Nwê) will enter opposition, working through the legislature to pursue reform, rather than through the executive.
Talks are expected to continue with no timeline for the installation of the cabinet.
In September 2018, the autonomous Kurdistan Region held its parliamentary election, with parties competing for 111 seats in total. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) won the election by securing 45 seats and was followed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) with 21 seats and Gorran (Change) with 12.
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