New Generation leader says he was ‘betrayed’ by dissidents
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The founder and president of the embattled New Generation late on Thursday addressed accusations of nepotism, blackmail, and prioritizing business dealings over politics in his first public statement since members of his party accused him of straying from the party’s ideals. Shaswar Abdulwahid said he has been “betrayed.”
“I did not expect my friends to betray me as they know me very well. We were always together. They know how much trust I had in them,” Abdulwahid told NRT TV, speaking from London where he's receiving medical care.
“How can such a friendship end in this way?” he asked.
The New Generation, a new political party that is just over a year old, had a very public crisis this week. Influential party members accused Abdulwahid of mixing business and family with politics and some dissenters said the party tried to blackmail them into silence.
Abdulwahid denied the accusations, dismissing them as fabrications of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
“This is a repulsive game by both the KDP and PUK… Both parties have always tried to bring about division in other parties,” and it is their “dream” to see the New Generation fail, he said.
New Generation burst into the political scene last year, performing better than expected in both Iraq’s and Kurdistan’s parliamentary elections. It offered itself as an alternative to the ruling family-led parties.
Sarkawt Shamsulddin, a lawmaker of the party in Baghdad and one of the authors of a public statement condemning the path Abdulwahid was trying to take the party, told Rudaw on Wednesday that Abdulwahid was doing the same thing as KDP and PUK when he appointed his sister, Srwa Abdulwahid, as head of party relations in Iraq. Shamsulddin and Rabun Maroof, who also signed the joint statement, have been suspended from the party pending a disciplinary hearing.
Abdulwahid defended his decision to hire his sister, stressing that she has years of experience. He also pointed out that none of the 17 heads of regional offices or 13 members of the Supreme Council are family members.
The businessman-turned-politician admitted he did make some decisions without first seeking approval of the Supreme Council, but said he “exchanged ideas among members of the council on a daily basis.”
According to NRT, a media outlet founded by Abdulwahid, the Supreme Council has not convened for about ten months.
He also rejected as “baseless” allegations he was using relations with other Iraqi political parties for financial gain, securing contracts for his company, Nalia.
Asked about charges of blackmail and that his party had taken compromising videos of members, Abdulwahid responded, “It is not part of my morality to spy on people.”