“I do not think taking part in the government is important for us,” the Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal) leader told Rudaw this week.
The party secured seven seats in the September 30 parliamentary election, becoming the largest Islamic bloc in the Kurdish legislature.
However, despite months of government formation talks between the parliament’s three biggest parties, Bapir said there is now too little time for Komal to join negotiations.
“In my opinion, the space is too short to consider whether to participate in the government, but in the end, the last decision is vested in the Komal Leadership Council,” he said.
If Komal enters the opposition, it would offer the government “constructive criticism”.
“The opposition and government are not foes … the opposition must make constructive criticism to adjust mistakes and make it beautiful, not ugly,” Bapir said.
“We are doing our best to become a loyal and legitimate opposition to correct the government, if derailed, and thank them for good things if they do.”
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) emerged from last year’s election as the biggest party, with 45 seats in the 111-seat legislature – but short of an outright majority.
It has spent months trying to build a governing coalition with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which secured 21 seats, and the Change Movement (Gorran), which won 12.
It reached a final agreement in two separate deals with Gorran in February and the PUK in early May.
Other parties, including New Generation (eight seats) and the Kurdistan Communist Party (one seat), have already opted to join the opposition. The Kurdistan Islamic Movement (IKM) did not secure any seats.
The Region’s last government was designed to be “broad-based” – including members of almost every party. However, it quickly disintegrated and became ineffective when Gorran, the KIU, and Komal pulled out. The KDP accused the three of having one foot in the government and one in the opposition.
Nechirvan Barzani, the incumbent KDP prime minister, was elected president of the Kurdistan Region in a ballot of MPs on Tuesday.
The Komal leader criticized the government formation process, arguing the president and prime minister should have been elected before party talks began.
Komal also believes the presidency commands too much power and ought to be a ceremonial role.
“The president should be elected initially and then he should represent the largest bloc for the formation of the government,” Bapir said. “By doing so, the parties would be able to seriously engage in government formation and the government agenda be shown to all.”
