SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region - The parties that topped the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections in September are divided over the mechanism of forming the new government, with one side saying it should be based on the number of seats won by each party and the other demanding a national consensus.
Although formal negotiations have yet to begin, Rudaw sources say that the presidency of the parliament and government have been finalized by the three top vote getters, which in descending order are: The powerful Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the opposition Change Movement (Gorran) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
“The position of parliament speaker is settled in favor of Gorran, and most probably it will be given to Yousif Mohammed, and PUK will hold the post of Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) deputy prime minister,” a senior Gorran official told Rudaw.
The KDP, which as the largest vote getter has the right to form the next government, has nominated current Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to stay in that position.
Before beginning formal discussions, the parties are currently engaged in trying to figure out whether to form the new cabinet based on the number of seats won by each party or by national consensus.
“It is hard to form the government based on the number of seats of the victorious parties. The government should be formed through a national consensus, “said Fareed Assasard, a member of the PUK leadership.
The three parties will first reach agreement on distributing the top government and parliament positions, then start negotiations on lower posts in the council of ministers and parliament because of the difficulties of agreeing on all of these position at one time, sources said.
Assasard believes that the mechanism issue places the KDP in a difficult position.
“The KDP is at a crossroads to exclusively decide on the strategic positions or to do that through coordination and consultation with PUK, Gorran, and other parties,” he said.
According to a senior official of the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, his party will not be satisfied with just sovereign and service ministries, but will ask for other senior positions.
“If Gorran and PUK hold the posts of speaker of parliament and deputy prime minister, then we will definitely ask for the post of deputy speaker or secretary of parliament or a position within the council of ministers,” said Mohammed Ahmed, a member of the Islamic Union’s politburo.
He said that no matter which mechanism is pursued to form the new government, the Islamic Union has the right to ask for senior ministerial or parliamentary positions.
Asked if the Islamic Union would support Gorran’s presidency of the parliament, Ahmed said, “The issue needs to be finalized through an agreement among all political parties.”
Previously, Ahmad Rasheed, a senior leader of the Islamic League of Kurdistan, told Rudaw that, “We have the right to receive two regular ministries and a services ministry.”
Senior KDP officials refused to comment on the process of forming the next cabinet because of ongoing negotiations with other parties.
According to Assasard, the positions will require agreement among the KDP, Gorran and PUK.
“PUK and Gorran may not have a problem with the proposed distribution of the posts of deputy prime minister and the speaker of parliament, but in the end the three parties need to reach an agreement in order to distribute all positions without facing troubles,” Assasard noted.
If election results are used as the only criteria for forming the next cabinet, the small parties are most likely to be eliminated from getting into the next government.
“We have not discussed the details with KDP. But in any case, it’s the Islamic Union‘s right to demand a position within the council of ministers or the parliament’s presidency in addition to the ministries that we may receive,” said Ahmed.
“In fact we might demand the post of deputy parliament speaker because we want to have real participation in the next government and our objective is to have a pluralistic government that includes all parties,” he added.
