Panel: Kurdish Constitutional Rights Ignored in Iraq’s New Government Programme

Vision Foundation for Strategic Studies Facebook

Vision Foundation for Strategic Studies' panel.

Sulaymaniyah hosted a special panel discussion on Monday, 11 May 2026, on the Kurdish issue within the agenda of Iraq’s new government cabinet. 

The event, held by Vision Foundation for Strategic Studies, brought together several members of the Iraqi Parliament, university professors, writers, and journalists, who shared their views on this important issue.

The panel was held under the title: “The Kurds and the Kurdistan Region in Iraq’s New Government Program.” The speakers included Hawre Tofiq, an expert and observer of Iraqi affairs; Dr. Mohammed Shakir, former member of the Iraqi Parliament; and Fuad Ahmed, head of the Parliamentary Research Centre in the Kurdistan Parliament.

During the panel, participants pointed out that the government programme contains two major issues. The first is the absence of any reference to the constitutional rights of the Kurdish people, while the second concerns the broader vision reflected in the programme regarding Iraq’s future. They also stressed that Article 140, primarily regarding  was completely ignored and not mentioned in any form within the programme.

Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution is a key, yet largely unimplemented, provision aimed at resolving territorial disputes between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), primarily regarding Kirkuk and other disputed regions. It mandated a three-stage process—normalisation, census, and referendum—to determine the will of citizens, originally meant to be completed by 2007.

The participants further noted that Iraq’s new government programme was drafted in a way that heavily emphasises economic dimensions, while granting most of the powers of the Council of Ministers particularly in sensitive and critical matters to the Prime Minister himself.

In addition to former and current parliamentarians, several heads of Iraqi parliamentary blocs attended the panel and presented their perspectives regarding Kurdish rights within the agenda of the new cabinet. They emphasised the need for the Kurdish side to prepare itself for various possible scenarios in the future.

In conclusion: participants stressed that the Kurds should adopt a unified voice and stance in the coming phase and prepare themselves for political changes and different possible scenarios, especially concerning constitutional rights and nationally significant laws.



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