Iraqi PM urges Kirkuk council members to agree on governor selection
Shafaq News/ On Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani urged members of the Kirkuk Provincial Council to reach an agreement on the selection of a new governor that "meets the aspirations of the governorate's residents."
During a meeting with Turkmen members of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, Al-Sudani emphasized the importance of "prioritizing the interests of Kirkuk's residents in any agreement between the political forces that won the elections, which were successfully conducted after being stalled since 2005." He stressed the necessity of working as "a unified team, avoiding marginalization or exclusion of any national and social forces in Kirkuk."
The Prime Minister also reiterated his call for council members to select "effective local government administrations and agree on a governor who would fulfill the aspirations of Kirkuk's residents," affirming his support for the Council's work and pledged to provide "everything needed to boost the governorate's economic situation and enhance infrastructure and services."
Kirkuk is experiencing a political crisis regarding the formation of the local government. Since the final results of the provincial council elections were announced last January, the Council has yet to settle on a council president or elect a governor. While local governments in other Governorates have been performing their duties, Kirkuk, along with Diyala, remains mired in political disputes, delaying the formation of its local government.
On Friday, an official from Kirkuk's Provincial Council disclosed a possibility of reaching a consensus on the governorship, with a meeting scheduled between several Arab group members and Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani aimed at "rotating" the governorship among the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and other components in the Governorate.
The source added, "The agreement reached between the Arabs, the KDP, and the Turkmen stipulates that the Kurdistan Democratic Party will hold the governor's position for four months and then rotated among the other ethnicities, sharing the governorship among the Governorate's components for a specified period."
The source affirmed, "The Arabs demand the governorship, as does the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). If an agreement is reached between the Arabs and the PUK, other political blocs can be brought into a political agreement because the Arabs hold six seats, the PUK has five Kurdish seats, and there is one Christian quota seat."
