Recent events in Kirkuk unlikely to disrupt upcoming local elections, MP says
Shafaq News / Sabah Habib Qadir, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), in Kirkuk, ruled out on Thursday that the recent events in the province would affect the course of the local elections scheduled to be held in October.
Qadir said in a statement to Shafaq News Agency that these events would not change the electoral process, and each component would receive its due in the province.
Qadir revealed decisions and initiatives launched by Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani during his meeting with representatives and components of Kirkuk. These decisions included changes in the leadership of Kirkuk operations, the formation of an investigative committee into the Kirkuk events, the release of detainees, and the cessation of raids in Kurdish areas, preparing them for the upcoming local elections.
The parliamentarian emphasized that Al-Sudani acknowledged the recent protest victims as "martyrs" and rejected any component in Kirkuk deviating from the path of the law, with the consensus of all political forces.
Regarding the return of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to its political headquarters, Qadir stated that it is a political right for every party to exercise its activities, but the recent crisis should not lead to the loss of innocent lives.
Earlier, dozens of protesters, mainly from Arab and Turkmen political factions in Kirkuk, blocked the main road linking the province to Erbil in protest against the Kurdistan Democratic Party's intention to return to open its headquarters in Kirkuk, as per the political agreement with the State Administration Coalition, which includes the political forces that formed the current federal government under the leadership of Al-Sudani.
On Saturday evening, Kirkuk witnessed the descent of dozens of Kurdish protesters in areas mostly populated by members of their community, demanding the reopening of the road and an end to the sit-ins in front of the KDP headquarters. However, their demands were met with gunfire, resulting in casualties and injuries.
In response to the tensions accompanying the protests in Kurdish areas, Iraqi security authorities imposed a curfew in Kirkuk.
It is worth noting that the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, had vacated its political headquarters and institutions in Kirkuk following the military operation carried out by the federal government in the disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad after the independence referendum conducted by the Kurdistan Region in September 2017. This operation led to the withdrawal of Peshmerga and Asayish forces from those areas.
