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June 14th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : Gorran (Change Movement) and Komal (Islamic League) refused to join an initiative aimed to reopen the parliament of Iraq’s Kurdistan Autonomous Region, citing that the conditions for the reopening were unacceptable. The initiative was proposed by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
KAR parliament in first session after 2013 elections (archives)
Gorran who holds the position of the speaker of parliament refused the initiative saying it does not accept the “conditions” and terms attached to it, said Gorran spokesman Shorish Haji on Wednesday. He stressed that any attempt to reopen parliament should be unconditional. Komal, for its part, holds the position of parliament secretary. The Islamic League also refused to back the initiative for similar reasons.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), for their part, stated on Tuesday that they proposed a new mechanism to reactivate the parliament with its Gorran Speaker Yousif Mohammed to lead the first session to be followed by his resignation and that of the entire team of the president of parliament and his deputy in the second session.
The KDP’s and PUK’s decision to propose the initiative and Gorran’s and Komal’s rejection the next day came as the Kurdistan Region announced last week to hold a referendum on independence in September. Many parties, including Gorran believe that the parliament should reopen and support the vote, and that the approval of a referendum from parliament is necessary.
Gorran declared that they, since 12 October 2015, have emphasized that the parliament with its current elected team of presidency should return to its work and that adding a functioning legislature would solve the legal and political crisis as well as the current financial crisis that has plagued the Kurdistan Autonomous Region since 2014. Gorran states that any other mechanism to normalize the situation through the conditional reactivation of parliament is unacceptable to them because the reason for the paralysis of parliament is not its presidency but the expiring – or rather expired – Kurdistan Autonomous Region’s (KAR) presidency.
KAR President Masoud Barzani’s term ended in 2013 after he served two four-year terms. However, his term was extended for two years by an act from the at the time KDP and PUK dominated parliament. Barzani’s term was further extended by a Kurdish court when the political parties failed to reach a negotiated settlement.
Another issue between the KDP and Gorran is the envisioned system of governance. The KDP is calling for a presidential system, not unlike that in the United States or Turkey, while Gorran is calling for a parliamentary system modeled after most European democracies. Gorran stated that any steps taken without fundamental changes to the system of governance and comprehensive reform would not offer a solution but further aggravate the political deadlock.
The parliamentary presidency includes speaker Yousif Mohammed, his deputy Jaafar Imniki from the KDP, and the parliament secretary Fakhradin Qadir from the Islamic League (Komal). Komal’s position is largely identical with that of Gorran. We deem it a legitimate question to ask why change the team of parliament presidency?” Rebwar Hama, Komal spokesperson said as he read a written statement on Wednesday.
The decision to reactivate the parliament that has not convened since October 2015 was made in a high-level meeting between the two main ruling parties, the KDP and the PUK. Saadi Ahmad Pira, a senior PUK official said in a press conference before Gorran’s announcement on Wednesday that the KDP has made some compromise on its part, and now is the time for Gorran to make its own compromise. He said one party cannot set an objective to win all of its demands in the negotiations.
Relations between the KDP and Gorran deteriorated in October 2015 when the KDP sacked Gorran ministers and its speaker of parliament who took office after a deal with the KDP following the 2013 elections. The KDP accused Gorran of orchestrating riots against its offices in several cities. Gorran denied the accusations. The tensions between the two parties had also remained strained when the speaker refused to cancel a parliamentary session in 2015 planned to discuss President Masoud Barzani’s second-term in office which was due to expire on August 19 that year.
CH/L – nsnbc 13.06.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/06/14/gorran-and-komal-turn-down-conditional-reactivation-of-kurdistans-parliament/
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