One of the two main parties in the Kurdistan region of Iraq announced on Thursday that it was ending its weeks-long boycott of parliament.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) began its boycott over parliament's election of Nizar Amedi, a member of the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), as President last month.
The election of the President is a vital step towards forming Iraq's next government following a general election in November last year. The post is held by a Kurd under Iraq’s ethno-sectarian political system, which reserves the post of parliament speaker for a Sunni and the post of prime minister for a member of the country's Shiite majority.
Traditionally, the PUK has nominated the presidential candidate while the KDP nominates the president of the Kurdistan region. However, in recent years, both parties have vied to install their candidate as Iraq's president.
The KDP's decision to end its boycott follows “positive outcomes” from meetings between Kurdish and Iraqi leaders in Baghdad and in Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, over the past week, several Kurdish officials told The National. It also comes as prime minister-designate Ali Al Zaidi prepares to submit his cabinet picks to parliament for approval.
Kurdistan region President Nechirvan Barzani arrived in Baghdad on Monday, a week after the largest Shiite bloc in parliament, the Co-ordination Framework, nominated Mr Al Zaidi as its prime ministerial candidate.
During two days of meetings with top Shiite and Sunni political figures, Mr Barzani conveyed the message that the Kurdistan region “expects more serious commitment from Iraq and the federal government, particularly in relation to the implementation of the constitution and the protection of political balance within Iraq,” said a Kurdish official.
Mr Barzani stressed that the “priority should be to build a political environment based on partnership and co-operation, rather than one in which political actors attempt to weaken one another or impose their will on others,” the official said.
“In this context, the meetings were positive. Iraqi political leaders acknowledged the importance of these concerns and expressed their readiness to work on these issues,” he said.
Restoring trust
The KDP’s lifting of its boycott “should be understood as part of a wider effort to restore trust”, said another Kurdish official. The move was taken to “ensure that Iraq’s political process reflects the principles of partnership, balance, and respect for all components”.
The decision was made following weeks of talks within the party and with other parties, and was “not the result of one single factor”, he said.
“The main issues behind the decision included the outstanding issues of the Kurdistan region’s budget and financial entitlements, the implementation of the Iraqi constitution and a commitment to address outstanding disputes between Erbil and Baghdad through dialogue and institutional mechanisms.”
Tensions between Baghdad and Erbil have heightened in recent years over the Kurdistan region's allocation from the national budget and the sharing of oil revenue.
