Shafaq News – Al-Sulaymaniyah

Freed Kurdish opposition leader Shaswar Abdulwahid claimed on Thursday that his arrest was aimed at preventing him from taking part in the 2025 parliamentary elections.

Abdulwahid was arrested in August 2025 on charges related to threatening a member of the Kurdistan Parliament and was later sentenced to five months in prison. He was released on bail on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference following his release, Abdulwahid, who leads the New Generation Movement (Al-Jeel Al-Jadeed-NGM), said he now faces multiple legal cases he described as politically motivated.

The movement, which was founded in 2018 and self-positioned as opposing to the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) “establishment,” will remain outside government unless there is a fundamental change in governance, though opposition blocs could secure enough seats to agree on a prime ministerial nominee, he stressed.

In a video statement, Pavel Talabani called for a direct meeting with Abdulwahid, as political and administrative disputes “should be addressed through dialogue rather than press conferences.”