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Presidency still in doubt as debate moves to Sulaimani
Sunday, 23 August, 201
Kurdish politicians moved key talks on the region’s presidency to Sulaimani on Sunday, with still no agreement on how and when to elect a new leader.
Rudaw reporter Erkan Ali said the fourth meeting between the political parties will resume Sunday morning at the Grand Millennium Hotel to discuss the next phase of regional politics after the presidential term of Masoud Barzani expired August 20.
Ali said the Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is believed to be presenting a new plan for the presidency, but no details of the proposal have been released. The media has been excluded from the sensitive, closed-door negotiations.
An official with the Gorran (Change) Movement told Rudaw’s Ali his party, led at the meetings by Omar Tawfiq Rahim, was not optimistic a deal would be reached at today’s meetings.
Exactly how the region will elect the next president is the main issue of disagreement, Ali said.
Gorran, the Patriotic Union Kurdistan, Kurdistan Islamic Union and the Kurdistan Islamic Group want the Kurdistan region’s president to be elected in parliament, while the (KDP) is seeking a public election to directly elect the next president.
The political parties are expected to discuss Article 1 of the Kurdistan region’s 2005 presidential law.
The argument is whether a new leader should be elected while the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is waging war against the Islamic State along some 700km of frontlines – not to mention a financial crisis made worse by the influx of more than 1.5 million refugees displaced by violence.
Barzani’s supporters say this is the wrong time for a change of leadership. Critics in the opposition, however, claim voters are being denied their democratic right to select the region’s officials.
With the political stalemate in place, observers say Barzani is still calling the shots. Meanwhile, the tensions between parties have raised doubts among average Kurds who are all-too-familiar with intra-party disputes.
Barzani, whose nephew is the region’s prime minister, has been president since 2005. He was re-elected by nearly 70 percent in the region’s first direct presidential elections in 2009, and his term was extended for two years in 2013.
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Sunday, 23 August, 201
Kurdish politicians moved key talks on the region’s presidency to Sulaimani on Sunday, with still no agreement on how and when to elect a new leader.
Rudaw reporter Erkan Ali said the fourth meeting between the political parties will resume Sunday morning at the Grand Millennium Hotel to discuss the next phase of regional politics after the presidential term of Masoud Barzani expired August 20.
Ali said the Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is believed to be presenting a new plan for the presidency, but no details of the proposal have been released. The media has been excluded from the sensitive, closed-door negotiations.
An official with the Gorran (Change) Movement told Rudaw’s Ali his party, led at the meetings by Omar Tawfiq Rahim, was not optimistic a deal would be reached at today’s meetings.
Exactly how the region will elect the next president is the main issue of disagreement, Ali said.
Gorran, the Patriotic Union Kurdistan, Kurdistan Islamic Union and the Kurdistan Islamic Group want the Kurdistan region’s president to be elected in parliament, while the (KDP) is seeking a public election to directly elect the next president.
The political parties are expected to discuss Article 1 of the Kurdistan region’s 2005 presidential law.
The argument is whether a new leader should be elected while the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is waging war against the Islamic State along some 700km of frontlines – not to mention a financial crisis made worse by the influx of more than 1.5 million refugees displaced by violence.
Barzani’s supporters say this is the wrong time for a change of leadership. Critics in the opposition, however, claim voters are being denied their democratic right to select the region’s officials.
With the political stalemate in place, observers say Barzani is still calling the shots. Meanwhile, the tensions between parties have raised doubts among average Kurds who are all-too-familiar with intra-party disputes.
Barzani, whose nephew is the region’s prime minister, has been president since 2005. He was re-elected by nearly 70 percent in the region’s first direct presidential elections in 2009, and his term was extended for two years in 2013.
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