Mala Bakhtiyar, who sat down with Rudaw's Ranj Sangawi for a lengthy interview aired on Sunday night, stated that the party will survive a series of setbacks that have plagued the PUK since last year including the "October 16" events that resulted in the loss of the oil-rich Kirkuk province to Iraqi forces after the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum.
Kurdish PM Nechirvan Barzani who met with PUK leadership in Sulaimani on Sunday told reporters that he did not get the impression that the PUK wants the Kurdish elections postponed. He said the government, in cooperation with the parliament and the election body, will discuss setting a date for the elections.
The PUK, like almost all other parties, may not be fully prepared for the elections at this stage, Bakhtiyar noted, but they will not prevent elections from taking place.
The PUK is heading into the Kurdish elections, Iraqi parliamentary and provincial elections after losing its charismatic leader Jalal Talabani in 2017 and the diverse province of Kirkuk, one of the party's main strongholds.
Bakhtiyar expects that his party may lose somewhere between 10 to 15 percent of the votes compared to the last elections mainly due to the perceived PUK role in the fall of Kirkuk. Another factor that may have a negative impact on voter confidence includes the resignation of Barham Salih, also a former KRG PM, who has formed his own coalition.
He warned though that the PUK's strength and influence in the Kurdistan Region is not dependent on how many votes they will get in the elections.
"We will be the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan if we win one seat, and we will be the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan if we win 100 seats," Bakhtiyar said as he explained that the PUK, like the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) with decades of struggles for the Kurdish cause, has great influence on the security forces and the Peshmerga in the PUK strongholds of Sulaimani and Halabja provinces.
"Neither in Iraq can anyone make a decision about the fate of the Kurdistan Region without the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, nor in the Kurdistan Region can any one party make a decision without the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan," he said.
Asked whether he thinks that this warning message may be in contrast to a peaceful transfer of power, Bakhtiyar said that the PUK does not accept other parties to even think about "disarming us," a reference to the PUK's control over some of the Kurdish security forces. He argued that a tight grip on the security forces is necessary for the greater good of the Kurdistan Region against "undemocratic countries" in the region.
"We have armed forces, and therefore no force can disarm us."
He claimed that the recent deadly protests that engulfed cities in the PUK’s “Green Zone” was partly "stimulated" by some PUK elements and caused difficulties for the party.
The objective of the "violent" protests was to strip the PUK of its armed forces, to be followed by a similar plan against the KDP elsewhere in the Kurdistan Region, Bakhtiyar claimed, repeating a similar line to that of Sheikh Jaafar Mustafa, the commander of the PUK Unit 70 whose Peshmerga helped to end week-long, anti-government protests that caused the death of three people.
In early November, the party was set to dissolve the politburo office and replace it with an 11-member committee led by acting head Kosrat Rasul, who was at that time first deputy. But that plan never materialized, partly because shortly thereafter Rasul fell ill and was flown to Germany to receive treatment for about two months. He returned to the Kurdistan Region on Saturday.
Mahmud Sangawi and Mohammed Saeed, two PUK leaders who welcomed Rasul back at Sulaimani airport told Rudaw that the politburo office had been dissolved. Bakhtiyar disputed their claims, adding that the party not only did not dissolve the politburo office, but that it will remain in place until they hold a congress early this year.
Hero Ibrahim, a politburo member and also the widow of the late PUK founder, said in December 2017 that they will hold the party's congress on March 7, the anniversary of the Kurdish uprising in the city of Sulaimani in 1991 following the first Gulf War.
Bakhtiyar said the March 7 date is not official yet since that decision has to be taken by the leadership. He suggested any date from March 5-15.
He said that some PUK officials have contributed to an environment of crises that face the party. He explained that some wanted to derail an internal investigation into the October 16 events in Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu, two disputed or Kurdistani areas claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad; others opposed holding party congress; and that there are those who did not want to accept the resignation letter filed by Barham Salih, the PUK's deputy head.
In regards to electing a new leader for the party, he said that the PUK has to find a new formula to fill the gap. Following the death of Talabani, no one can assume the role of the party's Secretary-General or be the party's deputy, Bakhtiyar reiterated.
Asked about the news of Qubad Talabani, the younger son of Jalal and former Iraqi president, being tipped for a senior leadership role within the PUK, Bakhtiyar said that he does not believe age is a good metric to assess the success of any leader. He said that President Jalal Talabani was old in terms of age, but he was young in spirit to the last minute of his life. He added that Qubad's family name should not play a factor in winning a senior position.
He said that he believes Qubad was successful when he was the PUK's representative in the United States and has also been successful in his role as the deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region.
"There is a wonderful relationship between me and comrade Qubad. I will not campaign for him now, but I will reveal my assessment of his leadership during the congress," Bakhtiyar said.
He said there is a struggle between two types of leadership within the party: Those who follow their conscience and those who follow financial gains. He warned that the party members will not tolerate those leaders who caused the PUK many headaches.
Bakhtiyar said that he supported Salih, the former PM and PUK's deputy head, on many occasions within the party, but lamented that he has finally decided to leave the PUK. He pointed out Salih has never been a Peshmerga fighter when the PUK staged an armed struggle against the then Iraqi regime. He added that Salih was arrested by the Baathist government only "briefly" before been sent out of the country to continue his studies and that he received the greatest support from the rest of the PUK leadership, "though he did not shed as much sweat," compared to the rest of the PUK officials.
"He was given more than he actually deserved," Bakhtiyar said, referring to Salih who has now established the Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ) party.
Asked about the news of Qubad Talabani, the younger son of Jalal and former Iraqi president, being tipped for a senior leadership role within the PUK, Bakhtiyar said that he does not believe age is a good metric to assess the success of any leader. He said that President Jalal Talabani was old in terms of age, but he was young in spirit to the last minute of his life. He added that Qubad's family name should not play a factor in winning a senior position.
He said that he believes Qubad was successful when he was the PUK's representative in the United States and has also been successful in his role as the deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region.
"There is a wonderful relationship between me and comrade Qubad. I will not campaign for him now, but I will reveal my assessment of his leadership during the congress," Bakhtiyar said.
He said there is a struggle between two types of leadership within the party: Those who follow their conscience and those who follow financial gains. He warned that the party members will not tolerate those leaders who caused the PUK many headaches.
Bakhtiyar said that he supported Salih, the former PM and PUK's deputy head, on many occasions within the party, but lamented that he has finally decided to leave the PUK. He pointed out Salih has never been a Peshmerga fighter when the PUK staged an armed struggle against the then Iraqi regime. He added that Salih was arrested by the Baathist government only "briefly" before been sent out of the country to continue his studies and that he received the greatest support from the rest of the PUK leadership, "though he did not shed as much sweat," compared to the rest of the PUK officials.
"He was given more than he actually deserved," Bakhtiyar said, referring to Salih who has now established the Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ) party.
The CDJ is now in alliance with the PUK's offshoot the Change Movement (Gorran), and the smaller Islamic Group (Komal) — opposition parties who unsuccessfully campaigned for the KRG be dissolved, and instead form an interim government. Both the KDP and PUK rejected this call.
It is not clear whether the PUK accepted Salih's resignation or not.
Bakhtiyar said that the removed Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim is still a PUK politburo member, but criticized the fact that he chose to head towards Erbil, a KDP stronghold, following the fall of Kirkuk, instead of the PUK's Sulaimani. He said, however, that he did not support an act by some PUK elements who confiscated Karim's house in Sulaimani after the Kirkuk events.
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