Shafaq News / The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) renewed on Tuesday its demands to reopen its headquarters, which has been closed for years, in Kirkuk and other disputed districts.
The deputy head of the party bloc in the Iraqi parliament, Bashar al-Kiki, told Shafaq News Agency, "the government must fulfill their promises and obligations to evacuate the party’s headquarters in Kirkuk for us to prepare for the upcoming elections and practice the political activity similar to other political parties and forces, considering closing the headquarters and not evacuating it as a major damage to a political component Without any justification or compelling reasons."
He added, "Kurds from Kirkuk, including the Kurdish parties, are waiting for the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to open for more joint coordination and the possibility of entering the elections with a joint vision and action."
Al-Kiki criticized the federal government's reluctance and the leadership of the joint operations in maintaining the joint coordination to normalize the situation in Kirkuk.
He stressed that the federal government should not hesitate to coordinate the Kurdish parties and the regional government and stop preferring the interests of certain parties at the expense of the overall stability in Kirkuk.
"We, in the Kurdistan Democratic Party, believe in cooperation and coexistence. This will not be achieved without the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk and other areas covered by Article 140," he said.
The Iraqi forces seized the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party after they invaded Kirkuk governorate and other disputed areas following an unprecedented escalation of tension between Baghdad and Erbil after the independence referendum in 2017.
In Diyala, a member of the Democratic Party and a former member of the Diyala Council, Jalil Ibrahim al-Dalawi, called for the party’s headquarters to be opened in the disputed administrative units after they were closed for years to practice electoral activities and prepare for the upcoming elections.
In an interview with Shafaq News Agency, Al-Dalawi pointed out that there are firm decisions and visions for the KDP to reopen the party headquarters at once in all of the disputed areas, and not partially.
He continued, "We are committed to the visions and decisions of the Democratic Party leadership in Diyala, and we await the cooperation of the federal government and the concerned authorities to resolve the file of the Democratic Party headquarters as soon as possible."
The Kurdistan Democratic Party was forced to leave its headquarters in the disputed areas covered by Article 140 of the constitution after the military campaign launched by the Iraqi forces supported by the Popular Mobilization Forces following the independence referendum in the Kurdistan Region in September of 2017.