Kirkuk Provincial Council has not sat for 3 months

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kirkuk Provincial Council has not sat for three months because of boycotts and disputes, paralyzing council work and delaying filling vacant positions in the province.

“Recently, due to political disagreements among Kirkuk's political forces, council meetings were not held and there was no schedule for meetings. Therefore, we decided not to hold council meetings,” Mohammed Hafiz, president of the council, told Rudaw on Friday.

Of the 16 members of the council, seven have boycotted sessions since last summer, while the other nine members have not been able to convene for three months.

“There are issues among those nine members, which is why I haven't set a meeting time,” Hafiz said, but added that they will have a full agenda next week.

“Next week, many decisions will be made that are already on the agenda,” he said.

Seven members of the council - from the Turkmen Front, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the Sunni Arab Alliance - have contested the formation of the provincial administration and refuse to participate in council meetings, though they still perform their official duties and keep office hours.

“The non-participation of those boycotting the council creates obstacles and halts the council's work,” said council member Ahmed Ramzi.

The dysfunctional council means 7,300 job opportunities have not been filled.

Hiwa Talib graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts 11 years ago. He is working washing cars and has his eyes on one of the 7,300 openings.

“I've submitted employment applications several times, but so far my name hasn't been called. So I'm busy with this work. But truly, the Kirkuk Provincial Council's failure to meet has paralyzed operations. These employment opportunities are connected to them, and if they don't meet, we suffer significant harm,” Talib said.