Gorran asks for parliament agenda before committing to reactivation
SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The Gorran party wants to know what will be on the parliament’s agenda when it convenes before making a decision on whether it will commit to reactivating the legislature, a member of the party told Rudaw.
On July 30, the multi-party referendum council chaired by President Masoud Barzani met and decreed that parliament must be convened in two weeks’ time.
Abdulrazaq Sharif, member of Gorran’s National Assembly, told Rudaw that meeting “has no legitimacy” and his party will not commit to decisions made by it. Gorran has not named a representative to sit on the referendum council and has not attended any of its meetings.
“There has been only one phone conversation with Gorran in this regard. We haven’t been told what the agenda of the parliamentary session is going to be. We will respond to them whenever they tell us about the agenda,” Sharif said.
Gorran, while supporting a referendum on Kurdistan independence, has insisted that such a vote must be given a mandate from the parliament, which has not sat since October 2015 because of inter-party disputes.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has said it has dropped preconditions it held to reactivating the parliament, namely removing parliamentary speaker and Gorran member Yousif Mohammed from his post and banning discussions on the position of the presidency.
Gorran has not yet responded to the KDP’s initiative to reconvene the parliament. Previously, the party had said it would respond to the KDP after their internal elections, which took place on July 25.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which has relations with both Gorran and the KDP, said it is working to bring the two adversaries together and normalize the situation.
Meetings should result in negotiations, PUK politburo member Jafar Shekh Mustafa told Rudaw. “They should come to an agreement and compromise for the sake of the interests of the people.”
If Gorran doesn’t commit to the deadline of August 13 set by the referendum committee, an alternative approach is to reconvene the legislature with the majority of MPs. The political advisor to the leader of the Islamic Union doesn’t think this is a good idea, however.
“We support the idea that the parliament and all its blocs should take part in its meetings and should proceed as normal without any conditions. It’s very normal for parties to come to an agreement among themselves and settle the questions, and then for the parliament to do its homework on legal aspects after it is reactivated,” Sherwan Shamerani, political advisor of the leader of the Islamic Union, told Rudaw.
On July 30, the multi-party referendum council chaired by President Masoud Barzani met and decreed that parliament must be convened in two weeks’ time.
Abdulrazaq Sharif, member of Gorran’s National Assembly, told Rudaw that meeting “has no legitimacy” and his party will not commit to decisions made by it. Gorran has not named a representative to sit on the referendum council and has not attended any of its meetings.
“There has been only one phone conversation with Gorran in this regard. We haven’t been told what the agenda of the parliamentary session is going to be. We will respond to them whenever they tell us about the agenda,” Sharif said.
Gorran, while supporting a referendum on Kurdistan independence, has insisted that such a vote must be given a mandate from the parliament, which has not sat since October 2015 because of inter-party disputes.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has said it has dropped preconditions it held to reactivating the parliament, namely removing parliamentary speaker and Gorran member Yousif Mohammed from his post and banning discussions on the position of the presidency.
Gorran has not yet responded to the KDP’s initiative to reconvene the parliament. Previously, the party had said it would respond to the KDP after their internal elections, which took place on July 25.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which has relations with both Gorran and the KDP, said it is working to bring the two adversaries together and normalize the situation.
Meetings should result in negotiations, PUK politburo member Jafar Shekh Mustafa told Rudaw. “They should come to an agreement and compromise for the sake of the interests of the people.”
If Gorran doesn’t commit to the deadline of August 13 set by the referendum committee, an alternative approach is to reconvene the legislature with the majority of MPs. The political advisor to the leader of the Islamic Union doesn’t think this is a good idea, however.
“We support the idea that the parliament and all its blocs should take part in its meetings and should proceed as normal without any conditions. It’s very normal for parties to come to an agreement among themselves and settle the questions, and then for the parliament to do its homework on legal aspects after it is reactivated,” Sherwan Shamerani, political advisor of the leader of the Islamic Union, told Rudaw.