ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kirkuk’s Arabs are determined to retain the position of governor in the multiethnic and disputed province, a spokesperson of an Arab bloc said on Saturday, as the city’s Kurds and Turkmens also eye the important post after provincial council elections earlier this month.
“The Arab component constitutes the majority in Kirkuk and won enough seats to be the majority, which earns it this position,” Azzam al-Hamdani, spokesperson of the al-Uruba alliance, told Rudaw.
Hamdani said that Kirkuk’s Arabs “directly feel” that the position of the governor must be theirs and pointed to successful Arab governance of Kirkuk in the past.
Following the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime in 2003, Kirkuk had a Kurdish governor, but when federal government forces returned to the province in October 2017 following Kirkuk’s participation in Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum, Baghdad appointed Rakan al-Jabouri, a Sunni politician and head of the Arab coalition, as acting governor. He has been in the post for six years.
Jabouri’s tenure has been a topic of debate. He is accused by some of attempting to revive the Ba'athist policy of Arabization to weaken the Kurdish population, but others praise him for breathing life back into previously-neglected Arab neighborhoods.
Hamdani said that Jabouri has strong backing from the Arab community and he is the candidate “most likely to assume the position of governor, considering there is an Arab political agreement and consensus by most Arab political forces that he should be the governor for the coming period.”
Official meetings among Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen political parties are yet to be held, however, Hamdani said they believe that “Kirkuk is a city for everyone, and therefore everyone participates in shaping the political, national, and administrative decisions."
Hamdani said Arab blocs would support a “peaceful transition of power,” but they believe they will hold on to the position, saying “We believe that Arabs are entitled to the position, before any other component.”
Provincial council elections were held on December 18 in Iraq’s 15 provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region. Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission announced final results late Thursday.
Kurdish political parties failed to maintain their majority in Kirkuk. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) won five seats (157,649 votes) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) two (52,278 votes) on the 16-seat provincial council. The New Generation Movement won 25,910 votes, but failed to secure a seat. The party has been accused by the other two Kurdish parties of jeopardizing a Kurdish victory in the province - a claim disputed by the movement.
Arabs won six seats and Turkmens secured two seats. A party close to Shiite militia groups won the Christian quota seat.
It is yet to be seen what alliances may emerge. The PUK and KDP are feuding over economic and governance issues in the Kurdistan Region and their ability to work together in Kirkuk is unclear. Turkmens would likely be strongly opposed to a Kurdish governor.
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