KDP sold Kirkuk for two quota seats

Reports 11:24 AM - 2023-03-28

Vote casting along with Kirkuk in the background.

The "political party" that the PUK faction in the Iraqi parliament said had compromised Kirkuk has now been identified. The Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) sold Kirkuk in exchange for the two quota seats for Christians and to use the votes of the displaced in the camps in the Nineveh Plain, according to the PUK faction's spokesperson.
 
 The third amendment to the electoral law of the Iraqi parliament and provincial councils, which consists of 15 articles, was adopted on Monday, March 27, 2023, by a majority vote of the 189 MPs in attendance. The PUK faction abstained from voting on the measure because it contained items that did not benefit Kurds.

As always, the KDP divided the Kurdish unity

"As always, the KDP broke the Kurdish unity in the Iraqi parliament and exchanged Kirkuk for the Christians' two quota seats in Nineveh," said Sozan Mansour, a spokesperson for the PUK faction.
 
 "The KDP has deceived Iraqi Christians by gaining three of their five quota seats, in addition to abandoning Kirkuk by supporting the electoral law," Mansour added.

Once more, the rights of minorities are being violated

The entire Iraqi parliament comprises 329 seats, with quotas set aside for minorities, including five for Christians.

 The KDP will have separate constituencies for the minorities in Erbil and Duhok to use their seats for party goals, which is a gross violation of minorities' rights, according to Mansour, who said that the quota seats' votes are measured as an open constituency throughout all of Iraq.
 
Mansour continued: "Among the Kurdish factions, only the KDP faction voted for all of the law's articles for its party’s own purpose."

In Baghdad, a party solely serves its own interests

The Iraqi parliament's decision, the PUK faction said in a statement:  "A political party compromised Kirkuk for narrow party interests, to get the Christians' two quota seats and the votes of displaced people in the camps of the Nineveh Plain."
 
"The PUK faction did not support the articles related to Kirkuk province, so it did not vote for these articles and the entire law," the statement added. "Sadly, the Kurdish forces did not approach this crucial matter in unity."

Resettled Arabs can now vote in Kirkuk

Resettled Arabs are now able to cast ballots in Kirkuk, per the new law that the KDP supported.
 
"The KDP has once again split the unity of the Kurdish house and exchanged Kirkuk for two Christian seats in Nineveh," Gaylan Qadir, a member of the PUK faction in the Iraqi parliament, told PUKMEDIA.
 
"The KDP faction voted for a law that allows resettled Arabs to vote in Kirkuk, which will end up to the detriment of the Kurds and other communities in Kirkuk," Qadir added.

The KDP is aiming to increase its support in Nineveh at Kirkuk's expense

"The standards specified for auditing the voter registration list are vague, unfair, and discriminatory towards the Kurdish community," the PUK's Kirkuk-Salah ad Din Election Center stated in a statement, a copy of which was sent to PUKMEDIA.
 
The Center also said: "Sadly, it has come to light that a political party is supporting this article, and Kirkuk has been sacrificed for a party to obtain two of the Christians' quota seats in Mosul and gain more votes in Mosul at the expense of Kurdish voters in Kirkuk! What is much riskier is to view this article as a success!"
 
"A sizable portion of Kirkuk's Kurdish voters will be at risk if this law is put into effect. The PUK faction did not support this item due to the unfairness of its provisions," it added.
 
The Kirkuk province will take part in the provincial council elections alongside all other Iraqi provinces for the first time in 18 years. Since 2004 there have not been any elections for the provincial council in Kirkuk.

 

 

PUKMEDIA