SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The Supreme Council of the New Generation in a press conference on April 25 announced the suspension of two of their high profile members of the Iraqi parliament who had publicly denounced the party’s leadership as an internal rift in the party that is just over a year old. Rabun Maroof and Sarkawt Shamsulddin issued a joint statement on April 21 accusing the party’s leadership of drifting away from its non-establishment ideals. In their press conference in Sulaimani, the Supreme Council, the party’s governing body, said they have officially suspended the two lawmakers who will face a disciplinary committee to explain their actions within a week’s time. “If the opposite happens and they don’t attend… they will be stripped of their membership” under party rules, added a council spokesperson. New Generation was founded as a movement to challenge the traditional powers in the Kurdistan Region. The party condemned the family-dominated rule of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Maroof and Shamsulddin accused the party leadership of marginalizing the party’s institutions and becoming a “political band” like the ones they had condemned. Explaining his stance in an interview on Rudaw TV on April 24, Shamsulddin said the family of founder Shaswar Abdulwahid and his business, the Nalia company, were taking over the party. The Supreme Council denied the accusations and said they would take legal action against “the slander and accusations.” They accused KDP and PUK of having a role in New Generation’s turmoil, plotting to undermine the party. Other dissident members of the party accused the leadership of trying to blackmail them into silence. MP Shadi Nawzad alleged she received messages threatening to publish nude videos of her if she did not stay quiet. The Supreme Council condemned the threats and said they support their female members. “The New Generation strongly condemns assaults against MPs and wishes for the truth to be revealed as they are for the people of Kurdistan,” the spokesperson stated. One person was arrested in Sulaimani on April 25 in connection with the threats. Abdulwahid is expected to make a televised statement Thursday evening. This will be his first public address since the accusations against him first arose.
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