Region: Joint Committee will soon begin to resolve the differences between Erbil and Baghdad

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Prime Minister congratulates Nijervan Barzani on his election as president of the Kurdistan region

Tuesday, May 28

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28-05-2019 08:19 PM

Barzani calls for the problems between Baghdad and Erbil to be solved within the framework of the constitution

 

 

BAGHDAD / 
Kurdish President Nechervan Barzani called on Tuesday to resolve all disputes between Baghdad and Erbil within the framework of the constitution, calling for unification of Kurdish positions towards the challenges. 
Barzani said during a message on his election to the President of the region seen by the "news" as well as expressing my thanks and appreciation to the distinguished parliament of Kurdistan, which gave me confidence today on behalf of the people, and reassure all the Kurdistanians dear that the presidency of the region will be the umbrella that unites the ranks of all forces and political parties and components Ethnic and religious in all their ideas and orientations, for the peaceful coexistence and tranquility of the people of Kurdistan. "
He added that "the provision of safety and social peace and guarantee the rights of the individual and society will be a major goal of us, and we will work through the path of dialogue to resolve all the problems between the Territory and the federal government within the framework of the Constitution, and will work to maintain strong relations of friendship with neighboring countries and the region and continue to strengthen the prestige and weight Kurdistan Region at the regional and international levels. " 
He added that "the Kurdistan region belongs to all Kurdistanis in all their diversity, and the presidency of the region will be a platform to express their will and their demands and their rights without discrimination and marginalization The interests of the Kurdistan Region calls on the participating parties to continue and accelerate the process of forming the government of the Territory.

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Abdul-Mahdi congratulates Nizhrvan Barzani, headed by the Kurdistan region

Date of release: 2019/5/28 23:16 • 138 times read

(Baghdad: Al-Furat News) Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi congratulated Nechervan Barzani, head of the Kurdistan region.

His office said in a brief statement, received by the agency {Euphrates News} a copy of it, "Abdul Mahdi congratulates Nechirvan Barzani on his election as president of the Kurdistan region." 
The Kurdistan parliament elected on Tuesday, Nechirvan Barzani, as president of the Kurdistan region. 
Barzani received 68 votes from the total of the members of the Parliament of Kurdistan present and the 81 parliamentarians. 
And held the parliament of Kurdistan, this morning its session for the election of a president of the region, where the direct presentation of candidates to vote while boycotting the mass of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the session decided not to participate in it as the new generation movement decided not to participate in the meeting, "not to meet the conditions required for the process because it does not serve the parliamentary system, So we decided to boycott the session as part of our historical responsibilities. "

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Source: Barzani will contact Coucert Rasul to resolve the return of the Union to the sessions of the Parliament of the region

Political | 6:14 - 28/05/2019

 

 

 

The 
leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, will hold a telephone call with the deputy secretary-general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Kosrat Rasoul to resolve the issue of the return of the Union to parliamentary sessions, a political source said Tuesday. 
The source said in an interview with "Mawazin News" that "Barzani will call the National Union Party to resolve the return of its members to the meetings of the Parliament of the Kurdistan region and proceed to complete the steps to form a regional government." 
The source added that "Barzani will pledge to the Messenger to implement all the provisions of the political agreement, including the issue of Kirkuk in an attempt to end the crisis that took place today again between the two parties."

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Maliki congratulates Barzani and looks forward to his presidency of Kurdistan

2019/05/28 12:50:20

https://www.shafaaq.com/ar/سیاسة/المالكي-يهنئ-نيجيرفان-بارزاني-ويتطلع-لأمر-برئاسته-لكوردستان/

 

Shafaq News / Head of a coalition of state law Nuri al-Maliki sent a cable of congratulations to the Barzani Nechirvan for his election as president of the Kurdistan Region.

The text reads as follows:

"It is our pleasure to send you my sincere congratulations and sincere congratulations to your election as President of the Kurdistan Region.

We look forward to your election to the presidency of the region as another step on the road of good relations between Baghdad and Erbil to be a model of harmony and understanding and national partnership, and wish the stability and prosperity of our Kurdish people alongside their brothers of nationalities and components of the Iraqi people.

We sincerely wish you success and success in achieving the goals and aspirations of the Kurdish people. "

 

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Speaker of the Iraqi parliament calls Najirvan Barzani

2019/05/28 08:41:53

https://www.shafaaq.com/ar/سیاسة/رئيس-البرلمان-العراقي-يهاتف-نيجيرفان-بارزاني/

 

News / President of the House of Representatives Mohammed Halbusi on Tuesday, a telephone conversation with Nechirvan Barzani congratulated him on the occasion of his election as President of the Kurdistan Region.

Halabousi said in a statement today, "his confidence in the efficiency and vision of Barzani, which will enable him to succeed in the performance of his duties, in order to our people in the Kurdistan region and his presidency of progress and prosperity."

 

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Seven members resign from the Kurdistan Islamic Group

Political | 09:59 - 29/05/2019

 

 

 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - 
Seven members of the Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIA), led by Ali Babir, on Wednesday submitted their resignations from party membership. 
According to Kurdish media, "seven members of the party of the Kurdistan Islamic Group, led by Ali Babir, made their resignations from the membership of the party," noting that "the resigning members are among the party cadres in the area of Arbil plain." 
According to the reports, "the women members of the grief caused the resignation to the lack of integrity within the party in addition to the lack of resignation of dozens of members of the group, afraid of themselves to be within the two scanners on what is happening." 
The members resigned from the ranks of the party are: Shirin Hakim Abdullah, Shaima Rashad Ahmed, Zainab Rasul Bakr, Jiyan Hassan Mohammed, Kawthar Hakim Abdullah, Shaheen Ismail Nabi, Mahabad Rida Tawfiq. Finished 29 / a 43

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The National Union meets today to discuss 3 issues, most notably its position on participation in the Kurdistan government

Political | 10:17 - 29/05/2019

 

 

 

BAGHDAD - Mawazine News 
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) will hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss three issues, including the statement of its position on participation in the Kurdistan government. 
A political source, told / Mawazin News /, "The leadership council of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is held today, a meeting in Sulaymaniyah." 
The source added that "the meeting discusses the issue of the election of Nizervan Barzani as president of the Kurdistan region and what will follow, in addition to the position of the party to participate in the provincial government and the situation in the city of Kirkuk."

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UN Congratulates Nechirvan Barzani on Kurdistan Presidency

 

 Basnews English 29/05/2019 - 13:42 Published in Kurdistan

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/kurdistan/524034

 

ERBIL — United Nations envoys send congratulations to Nechirvan Barzani on his election as the new president of Kurdistan Region.

“Congratulations to my good friend Nechirvan Barzani on being elected KRG President.,” said Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

He described Barzani as “a staunch voice of reason, moderation and progress for the Kurdish people and Iraq.”

“The Middle East needs a new generation of leaders like Nechirvan Barzani.”

UN Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary- General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert also sent congratulations to the new president of Kurdistan Region, saying that the UN in Iraq looks forward to working closely with Barzani.

Nechirvan Barzani, the current prime minister of Kurdistan Region, was elected President on Tuesday during a parliamentary vote where he received 68 votes from 81 present lawmakers.

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Kurdistan

UN: The Middle East needs new generation of leaders like Nechirvan Barzani

 Sangar Ali |

3 hours ago

 

 

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/df0553af-9e6e-413f-8709-ad27c11a6880

---

The newly elected President of the Kurdistan Region Nechrivan Barzani during a press briefing. (Photo: Archive)

 

Kurdistan Nechirvan Barzani UN Iraq 

A+AA-

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, on Tuesday congratulated Nechirvan Barzani on his successful bid in becoming the new President of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.

“He has always been a staunch voice of reason, moderation and progress for the #Kurdish people and #Iraq. The #MiddleEast needs a new generation of leaders like Nechervan #Barzani,” Mladenov said on his Twitter account.

Mladenov previously served as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), from Aug. 2013 until Feb. 2015.

In a dedicated parliamentary session on Tuesday, 68 lawmakers from the Kurdistan Region’s 111-seat legislature voted in favor of Barzani. He is expected to take his oath of office shortly after the Eid al-Fitr holidays.

“The Special Representative for Iraq of the United Nations Secretary-General, Ms. Jeannine Hennis-Plasschaert, offers her congratulations to Mr. Nechirvan Barzani for his election as President of Kurdistan Region. The UN family in Iraq looks forward to working closely with him,” UNAMI said in a statement on Tuesday.

Nechirvan Barzani is the deputy head of the leading Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). During the Sept. 30 parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan Region, the KDP increased its number of seats to 45, with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) winning 21 seats, and Gorran (Change) Movement securing 12.

Born in 1966, Barzani was elected as the deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region in 1996. He was elected as Prime Minister in 1999 and 2006. He continued serving after subsequently being re-elected to the post in 2011 and 2013, until May 28, 2019.

Editing by Nadia Riva 

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National: Barzani's election to the presidency of the province breach of the agreement will not stand idly by

Editorial date:: 2019/5/29 12:25 • 267 times read

(Baghdad: Al-Furat News) condemned the center of the Baghdad organizations of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, "what happened from the breach and encirclement inside the dome of the parliament of Kurdistan on the agreements and consensus, and the election of Nizhervan Barzani as head of the region without the participation of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan," according to a statement issued by the Center.

"What is happening is a clear violation and evasion of the political agreement that was agreed upon between us and the Democrat, and this is what is forcing the political situation and making it more critical than previous periods," the statement said. 
The statement stressed that "the Patriotic Union was and still considers Kirkuk the holy city of Kurdistan, and the election of a Kurdish governor of the Patriotic Union the right guaranteed by the street Kirkuk through the election campaigns, but the evasion of democracy in this way will affect the situation in the region and areas, especially Kirkuk, and restore injustice and Arabization Displacement and threat again, because they made room for the interpreters to exploit this gap that we were afraid of. "
"This does not mean that we will remain indifferent to what happened, and we will have a more firm and firm position not for the narrow interests of the PUK and its gains, but to elevate the situation of the Kurdish people in general and Kirkuk in particular," he said.

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Presidential President Important 

Speaker of the House of Representatives congratulates Nirvvan Barzani on his election as President of the Kurdistan region

 May 28, 2019

 

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mohammad Halbusi, on Tuesday, a telephone conversation with Mr. Njirvan Barzani congratulated him for his election as president of the Kurdistan region.

He expressed his confidence in Mr. Barzani's competence and vision, which will enable him to succeed in the performance of his duties, in the hope of our people in the Kurdistan region and his presidency of progress and prosperity.

 

Media Office 
of the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
May 28, 2019

http://ar.parliament.iq/2019/05/28/رئيس-مجلس-النواب-يهنئ-نيچيرفان-البارز/

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After the mandate pleased to preside .. Democrat sets the date of formation of the territorial government

By AhadNA1 View 29/05/2019 10:51 PM | Number of readings:

 

The Kurdish Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani on Wednesday on the date of the formation of the Kurdistan Regional Government after the commissioner pleased Barzani presidency. A member of the Parliament of the region for the Democratic Idris Shaaban in an interview with a journalist, "the Covenant News" that "we will proceed with the steps to form a government and will not pay attention to the obstacles placed before us"He said.

Shaaban said that "our people need services and stability and provide the requirements for living," calling on "the Kurdistan Union Party to have a consistent position towards forming a government"He said. He stressed that "his party is still in the formation of the government of the region, after the holiday of Eid al-Fitr after the appointment of our candidate pleased Barzani and the rest of the Kurdish parties to resolve their names and nominate candidates for office .. Time passes quickly and will not allow that the length of time more"He said.

 The parliament of the Kurdistan region was elected on Tuesday, Nigervan Barzani, head of the Kurdistan region after a session to vote included the nomination of four personalities. A local source in the region said that the parliament voted to elect Nigervan Barzani, head of the region, by obtaining 68 votes of the present 81. The Kurdistan Region and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which decided to boycott them suddenly despite the existence of a political agreement with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to support the candidacy of Nechirvan Barzani to head the Kurdistan region..

  A spokesman for the National Union, said that "his party decided to break the agreement with the Democratic Party and boycott the meeting," without explaining the reasons. Before it stipulated the National Union, resolve the Kurdistan Democratic Party to the issue of the governor of Kirkuk before supporting the election of Nechervan Barzani as President of the region, in a meeting held earlier parliamentary session.

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National Union meeting comes out several points

Political | 03:46 - 29/05/2019

 

 

 

Baghdad - Mawazin News 
The leadership council of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, on Wednesday, the implementation of agreements with the Kurdistan Democratic Party on the resolution of differences in the region, Baghdad and Kirkuk. 
"The meeting of the Council confirmed the support of the statement issued by the Political Bureau of the party yesterday after the election of Nechirvan Barzani as president of the Kurdistan region." 
On the situation in the disputed areas, the statement pointed out "the need for coordination at the current stage with the political parties in Kurdistan, especially between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party to normalize the situation in those areas facing the threat of terrorism, as well as to block the attempts to destroy the demographic reality again" .
"The importance of adopting a policy of balance in the constitutional institutions and the departments in the Kurdistan region," he said, adding that "the unity of the situation between the parties and Kurdish parties is important in achieving the higher interests of the people of Kurdistan."

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The Democratic Party is holding a meeting today to discuss two important issues

Political | 09:36 - 30/05/2019

 

 

 

BAGHDAD - Mawazine News 
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is holding a meeting on Thursday to discuss two important issues. 
Political sources told Mawazine News that "the Democratic Party's leadership council is holding today a meeting to discuss two important issues." 
The sources added that "the first two files related to the formation of the new government of the Kurdistan region, and the second relates to the party's relations with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan."

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National Union: No power can separate us from Kirkuk and the Democratic Party violated all agreements

Political | 11:36 - 30/05/2019

 

 

 

Baghdad - Mawazin News 
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, on Thursday, that any force can not be separated from Kirkuk, accusing the Kurdistan Democratic Party of violating all agreements. 
"The Patriotic Union is ready to serve Kirkuk in all forms and there is no force that can separate the Union and Kirkuk from each other," said the leader of the federation, Sta Rasul. 
Rasul pointed out that "the Patriotic Union tried hard during the past months to resolve the issue of Kirkuk and the establishment of a Kurdish governor of the city with one voice." 
He added that "the Kurdistan Democratic Party did not abide by the agreements and create different obstacles to all initiatives of the National Union in this regard, and that is unacceptable to the National Union and that the future all new developments bear their democratic responsibility and the masses of the people of the Kurdistan region aware of the truth."

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Democratic: We will go after the Eid to form a government of Kurdistan and the conflicts of national delay formation

Political | 12:56 - 30/05/2019

 

 

 

Special - Mawazin News 
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), on Thursday, promised to form the Kurdistan Regional Government after Eid al-Fitr, pointing out that the conflicts within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is delaying its formation. 
Party member Repin Salam told Mawazine News: "We will complete the process of forming the Kurdistan Regional Government without paying attention to the back." 
He added that "the internal conflicts within the National Union are hampering the process of forming a government and that time is running quickly," stressing that "after the Eid holiday will go through the process of forming the government by assigning pleased Barzani presidency." 
Salam stressed that "the National Union must submit its candidates as soon as possible because we will not delay the formation of more." 
The Kurdistan Regional Parliament voted Tuesday (May 28, 2019) for the election of Nizhvan Barzani as president of the province, in the center of the province of the National Union.

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The June 10 deadline for Nijervan's performance is set to be sworn in as president of Kurdistan

Political | 01:10 - 30/05/2019

 

 

 

Baghdad - Mawazin News 
The Parliament of the Kurdistan region, the tenth of June next date for the performance of Nigervan Barzani, the right sworn in as head of the region. 
A source in the parliament, for / Mawazin News /, "The Parliament of the province set the tenth of June next and on the hall of Saad Abdullah Barbil, a date for the performance of Barzani right to the presidency of the region." 
The source added that "a special session will be held in this regard"

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New President of Kurdistan to Take Oath in Early June

He will name Masrour Barzani as the new prime minister the same day.

 Basnews English 30/05/2019 - 12:05 Published in Kurdistan

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/kurdistan/524236

ERBIL — The newly elected president of Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, will take oath during his inauguration on 10th June, according to Kurdistan Region Parliament.

Barzani was elected president earlier on Tuesday by the legislative. He received 68 votes from 81 present lawmakers.

According to a press release by the parliament, political leaders and diplomats from outside Kurdistan Region will attend the inauguration.

During the same ceremony, Barzani will name the new prime minister of Kurdistan Region and will task him to begin the formation of the new cabinet within 30 days.

Masrour Barzani, the current chancellor of Kurdistan Region Security Council, is nominated for premiership by his party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

He is known for his success in leading the years-long battle against the Islamic State (IS) as the top security chief of Kurdistan.

The KDP emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections last year with 45 seats at the legislative.

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Mr. Nigervan Barzani, the esteemed
Sincere congratulations and congratulations on your victory as President of the Kurdistan Region, and we wish you success in this mission and for the people of Kurdistan region more prosperity and development in a secure and stable Iraq.
Chairman of the Assembly # National Sindh MP Ahmed Asadi.
@PMBarzani
9:43 AM - 30 May 2019

 

[10 YEARS LATER]

No B-B-Q .... ? They’re gonna keep cooking this until it turns to shoe ( sandal ? ) leather. Cook it, Kick it, toss it down the road. 

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Iraqi Kurdistan Chooses a New President, But Internal Rifts Deepen

Bilal Wahab

May 30, 2019

https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/iraqi-kurdistan-chooses-a-new-president-but-internal-rifts-deepen

The latest step toward ending the KRG’s political gridlock obscures more-worrisome Kurdish divisions, many of which threaten wider U.S.-Iraqi security and economic interests.

On May 28, the Iraqi Kurdish parliament narrowly elected Nechirvan Barzani as the new president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, giving the longtime KRG fixture only 68 out of 111 votes. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the main rival of Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party, boycotted the vote over several issues, including the KDP’s broken promise to name a PUK official as governor of the oil-rich Kirkuk region. Meanwhile, the KDP still controls the northwest part of the Kurdish region and the PUK the southwest, each boasting equally strong armed forces.

Electing a president would normally kickstart the KRG’s government formation process, which has been delayed since elections were held last September. The new president is expected to task his cousin Masrour Barzani with forming the next cabinet. Yet the KRG’s deepening internal rifts will almost certainly delay the process even further.

POLITICAL VOLATILITY VS. SYSTEMIC INERTIA

The Kurdish political landscape has shifted to and fro in recent years due to several developments. First, the Islamic State’s 2014 onslaught gave the KRG new opportunities for greater international military cooperation and control over territories disputed with Baghdad. As recently as October 2017, Kurdish Peshmerga controlled Kirkuk and its oil fields, thereby doubling the KRG’s oil exports and ensuring its economic survival.

Then came the Kurdish push for independence. Empowered by their role against the Islamic State and recognizing Baghdad’s embattled circumstances, then KRG president Masoud Barzani ignored foreign and domestic counsel by holding a 2017 referendum on potential secession from Iraq, which led to a standoff with the federal military and the loss of recently gained territories and resources. After Baghdad seized Kirkuk, the KDP accused the PUK of colluding with federal forces and Shia militias. The two parties have since continued this poisonous blame game and widened the KRG’s internal divisions, even as their respective relations with Baghdad began to recover.

Their internal balance of power has shifted as well. When the two parties formed the first KRG cabinet in 1992, they were on equal footing, but by last year the KDP held forty-five seats in the Kurdish parliament compared to the PUK’s twenty-one. The creation of the Gorran splinter party in 2009 weakened the PUK significantly, as did the passing of its leader Jalal Talabani in 2017. The party remains leaderless today, though its cadres are still unified by the twin goals of opposing KDP hegemony and clinging to the status quo ante in the hope of putting their house in order and rising again.

In contrast, the KDP has enjoyed internal stability under Masoud Barzani and now seeks to end its parity with the PUK, in part by transforming Kurdish politics from coalition-based to majoritarian. To guard against the PUK’s fate post-Talabani, Masoud is overseeing the transition of power to the next generation of Barzanis. Yet given the current military and geographic dynamics between the two rivals, political jockeying in parliament has done little to define the KRG’s true balance of power or move them toward agreeing on a regional constitution—a situation that helps explain the KRG’s mutable laws and weak institutions.

The PUK has also sought to resist the KDP by taking its political action to the national level. In October, the federal parliament in Baghdad chose senior PUK figure Barham Salih as president of Iraq despite significant opposition from Masoud Barzani. The PUK now wants to put the Kirkuk governorship and a federal ministerial position on the table during KRG government formation negotiations, using its leverage in Baghdad to gain some reprieve from KDP dominance in Kurdistan.

For its part, the KDP aims to compartmentalize Kurdish and federal politics, but this goal may be undermined by the party’s own actions. Although Nechirvan Barzani won the presidency and boasts congratulatory messages and policy endorsements from the United States, the KDP has greatly weakened his two main political levers against the PUK: the Kurdish legislature and Gorran. In 2015, Masoud Barzani barred the speaker of parliament, a Gorran leader, from entering the KRG capital of Erbil, in effect shuttering the legislature for two years. The current speaker is a KDP member by default, since the PUK boycotted the February 18 parliamentary session where the leadership was elected. Despite this political monopoly, however, Nechirvan Barzani’s presidential decrees will have little or no effect outside the KDP-controlled half of Kurdistan absent a power-sharing agreement with the PUK.

To be sure, the KDP could simply ignore its rival’s obstructionism and complete the government formation process with the help of Gorran’s votes. Ultimately, though, neither side wants the KRG to collapse into two separate provinces, a scenario that could happen given the current facts on the ground.

THE PERILS OF A WEAK KURDISTAN

Although Kurdish factionalism is nothing new, the KDP and PUK previously managed to present a united front where it mattered most: in dealing with Baghdad. Such unity served the KRG well politically and economically, helping it enshrine Kurdish rights in the Iraqi constitution and attract international business into the local petroleum sector. Kurdish unity serves U.S. interests as well, since a strong Kurdistan is better equipped to prevent the accretion of terrorist movements and lawless zones that nearly ripped Iraq apart. Today, however, the repercussions of intra-Kurdish fissures threaten all of these interests.

For example, Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdulmahdi has sought to turn a new page with the Kurds by letting Kirkuk’s oil flow through the KRG pipeline and resuming federal budget transfers that former prime minister Haider al-Abadi cut in 2014. Yet internal Kurdish dynamics could spoil this honeymoon if the KDP and PUK work against each other at the national level. In addition to potentially dooming a permanent deal with the federal government over the increasingly combustible Kirkuk and other disputed territories, squabbling between the two parties could undermine KRG coordination with the Iraqi security forces in these areas. The Islamic State is already exploiting this nascent security gap to regroup.

Similarly, factions within the federal government may start reaching informal agreements with the KDP and PUK separately rather than with the KRG. Earlier this month, for example, the KDP struck a deal with the chairman of the Popular Mobilization Forces to appoint Mansour Marid, a member of the militia network’s associated parliamentary bloc, as governor of Nineveh province. Meanwhile, the PUK seemingly supports a Kurdish parliamentarian’s legal case against the KRG over diverted budget transfers, arguing that federal funds earmarked for public salaries were used to pay back debts to oil firms. Such controversies could lead officials to revisit a mechanism through which Baghdad would pay public employees in PUK-controlled territories directly rather than through Erbil—a notion that was taboo in Kurdistan only a few years back.

Sadly, the KDP and PUK are not fighting over which party has the better plan for instilling more accountable governance and better serving Kurdistan’s citizenry, but instead over who controls the patronage networks that stem from and perpetuate the KRG’s institutional weakness. The KRG parliament has not passed a budget since 2013, and ongoing squabbles divert attention and energy from crucial institutional reforms. Even after witnessing firsthand how partisan rifts exacerbated their military and political setbacks after the independence referendum, the two parties are still trying to manage the political landscape rather than reform it. That is why the weak but persistent Kurdish opposition endures—as the rise of Gorran showed, a large segment of the public wants a third way.

IRAN AND OIL ISSUES

In addition to harming U.S. counterterrorism interests, a divided KRG provides an open door to Iran at a time when the regime is looking for new ways to ease its sanctions pains. The Kurds have recalibrated their relations favorably with Tehran since the referendum, in part due to fear of Iranian threats resulting from that initiative, and also because of their disappointment at how Washington reacted to the plebiscite. Moreover, American officials need the KRG’s help in blocking efforts by pro-Iran parliamentary groups to end the U.S. training mission in Iraq; although such legislation is tabled at the moment, it could pass if reintroduced amid deep Kurdish divisions.

It is therefore in Washington’s interest to reengage the KRG more seriously on governance reforms, particularly on Peshmerga and economic issues. Despite some progress, the KRG economy remains oil-dependent and unable to create adequate jobs. Its banking sector lags behind as well, with government employees still paid in cash handouts—a situation that is conducive not only to corruption within the KRG, but also to Iran gaining access to U.S. dollars via its networks there.

Relatedly, the KRG and Baghdad are overdue for a stable, long-term petroleum revenue sharing mechanism that depoliticizes the federal budgeting process. U.S. officials should facilitate this deal, whether directly or through the UN mission in Iraq. The prospects of such an agreement coming to fruition would encourage KRG unity in negotiating with Baghdad, instead of the KDP and PUK making separate side deals.

Edited May 30, 2019 by 6ly410

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