Arab, Turkmen want Kirkuk council dissolved, Kurds want new governor
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Members of the Kurdish-led Brotherhood bloc in Kirkuk Provincial Council say they are waiting for the go-ahead from the Kurdish leadership in order to return to Kirkuk and vote for a new governor as the council has been dysfunctional for three weeks now since Iraqi forces entered the city in mid-October.
Rebwar Talabani, head of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, told Rudaw they have sent a letter to the leaders of Kurdistan’s five main political parties on if and when they should return to their posts and from there elect a new governor.
The Arab and Turkmen bloc have asked Baghdad to dissolve the Council and replace it with a new one.
Talabani defied the call saying "there is no legal or constitutional article which allows dissolving the Provincial Council because the Council operates under Bremer's Law 71, which is the highest authority," said Talabani.
He said according to the Brotherhood bloc "if any problem occurs, it should be resolved through a unanimous vote."
Mohammed Kamal, head of the Kurdish-led bloc, also criticized the call from the Arab and Turkmen councilors saying all the parties "have to resort to dialogue and ease the situation."
He believes, for the time being, "the key solution is handing Kirkuk's security case to the police and the withdrawal of the army and Hashd al-Shaabi."
According to data from rights organizations and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), some 170,000 people have been displaced from Kirkuk to Erbil and Sulaimani, including local officials, among them city officials of Kurdish ethnicity.
The displaced persons urge members of the Brotherhood bloc not to return to Kirkuk until the situation has been normalized.
"The purpose behind calls on the Brotherhood bloc to return to Kirkuk is only to vote for electing a new governor for the city," Garmiyan Hassan, a displaced person from Kirkuk, told Rudaw. "A Kurdish governor, with no power is worthless and meaningless."
After Iraqi forces took control of Kirkuk on October 16, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi appointed Rakan Ali al-Jabouri, an Arab, as interim governor in place of Najmaldin Karim, a Kurd from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
The PUK has nominated a replacement for Kirkuk governor after the Iraqi president approved the dismissal of Najmaldin Karim from the post.
The PUK has selected its politburo member Rizgar Ali as candidate for the position of governor of Kirkuk, politburo member Rafaat Abdullah told Rudaw.
In September, the Iraqi parliament ruled to sack Karim who was a vocal supporter of Kurdistan – raising the flag of Kurdistan in the city alongside the Iraqi one and urging people to vote in the independence referendum.
Rebwar Talabani, head of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, told Rudaw they have sent a letter to the leaders of Kurdistan’s five main political parties on if and when they should return to their posts and from there elect a new governor.
The Arab and Turkmen bloc have asked Baghdad to dissolve the Council and replace it with a new one.
Talabani defied the call saying "there is no legal or constitutional article which allows dissolving the Provincial Council because the Council operates under Bremer's Law 71, which is the highest authority," said Talabani.
He said according to the Brotherhood bloc "if any problem occurs, it should be resolved through a unanimous vote."
Mohammed Kamal, head of the Kurdish-led bloc, also criticized the call from the Arab and Turkmen councilors saying all the parties "have to resort to dialogue and ease the situation."
He believes, for the time being, "the key solution is handing Kirkuk's security case to the police and the withdrawal of the army and Hashd al-Shaabi."
According to data from rights organizations and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), some 170,000 people have been displaced from Kirkuk to Erbil and Sulaimani, including local officials, among them city officials of Kurdish ethnicity.
The displaced persons urge members of the Brotherhood bloc not to return to Kirkuk until the situation has been normalized.
"The purpose behind calls on the Brotherhood bloc to return to Kirkuk is only to vote for electing a new governor for the city," Garmiyan Hassan, a displaced person from Kirkuk, told Rudaw. "A Kurdish governor, with no power is worthless and meaningless."
After Iraqi forces took control of Kirkuk on October 16, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi appointed Rakan Ali al-Jabouri, an Arab, as interim governor in place of Najmaldin Karim, a Kurd from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
The PUK has nominated a replacement for Kirkuk governor after the Iraqi president approved the dismissal of Najmaldin Karim from the post.
The PUK has selected its politburo member Rizgar Ali as candidate for the position of governor of Kirkuk, politburo member Rafaat Abdullah told Rudaw.
In September, the Iraqi parliament ruled to sack Karim who was a vocal supporter of Kurdistan – raising the flag of Kurdistan in the city alongside the Iraqi one and urging people to vote in the independence referendum.