PUK shows no cards ahead of Kurdistan Region parliament faceoff
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Parliament of the Kurdistan Region is due to meet on Saturday to debate the amendment of the presidential law and reactivation of presidency office. But it is unclear whether the second-largest party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), will participate.
“The PUK has not yet decided whether or not to take part in it. This depends on relations between the PUK and KDP,” PUK leadership member Arez Abdulla told Rudaw TV on Friday. “It is unlikely it will participate in the session if the session is held exclusively to debate this [presidency] question.”
He detailed why the PUK’s status is unclear.
“Because we don’t yet have an agreement to take part in the government, nor have reached an agreement on how the law should be amended,” he said.
The president of the Kurdistan Region previously has commanded all security forces, acted as head of state, and held tremendous sway.
“… the presidential law should be completely changed so that it fits with current situations and a parliamentary system,” Abdulla added.
He said dialogue between the KDP and PUK continues and they want to be a true partner in governance across the Kurdistan Region.
The PUK effectively is concerned with being shut out of the official security, intelligence, military, and Peshmerga apparatus; thus, leaving the PUK forces as party forces and not a part of the government.
“If we don’t have a role in running these departments, we don’t feel like we are participants. For example, the president of the region is from the KDP, the prime minister is from the KDP, the head of the Department of Foreign Relations is from the KDP too. In case a delegation goes abroad or comes here, one wouldn’t feel like there is a coalition government here. Rather, one feels like only one political party runs this country, while we want to be allies,” Abdulla said.
The last time the PUK and KDP splintered, they fought a bloody civil war in the 1990s and then operated two de facto regional party governments until they reconciled following the US liberation.
“The departments given to the PUK should be important and strategic and should have a role in running the KRG,” he added.
The PUK regained its position in last year’s election as the Kurdistan Region’s second-largest — ahead of the Change Movement (Gorran) whose speaker of parliament was barred from entering the legislature and could never keep control of the Peshmerga ministry from the KDP.
Gorran and KDP reached an agreement last week that the PUK called “a wrong step.”
“The KDP and Gorran (Change Movement) have an agreement between them and they can form the government themselves. And we haven’t hampered this process. There are no legal obstacles before them. They can form the government without the PUK and we haven’t closed this door,” he said
The PUK, according to Abdulla, believes the KDP with its 45 seats in the 111-seat legislature is not willing to proportionally share power.
“We understand the PUK has 21 parliamentary seats and the KDP knows this too, but the influence and position of the PUK should be taken into account. And the KDP has so far taken this into account, but this should reflect on government institutions so that we together can pass this phase,” he said
KDP already has set conditions for a bill to amend the presidency law and to ratify a constitution. The PUK is yet to attend a session of parliament.
The PUK politburo met in Erbil on Friday to discuss the posts the KDP had earlier suggested for the PUK and PUK spokesperson Latif Sheikh Omar told Rudaw following the meeting “we are closer to reaching an agreement.”
As it is a regional parliament, the disputed areas and supposed backroom agreements about their future, in particular oil-rich Kirkuk, also are a part of the KDP-PUK impasse.
“I think not only the PUK, but all the parties should take part in this government and form a strong coalition government here and should have unanimity in Baghdad and disputed areas. But we still have disagreement on this with the KDP. There is mutual understating, but we haven’t reached a solution to the issue of Kirkuk, Baghdad and many other aspects,” Abdulla said.
The PUK, following with tradition, obtained the chiefly ceremonial role of president of Iraq. However winning 6 of 11 seats in Kirkuk in the Iraqi election (ignoring the Christian minority seat), the PUK sees Kirkuk as their powerbase where the acting, appointed Arab governor will be replaced by a person approved by the PUK, as the KDP chose not to run in the “occupied” city.