ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish President Masoud Barzani has suggested that a political deadlock in Kurdistan can be ended if the political parties agree to a division of senior positions in parliament and the prime minister’s office, his chief of staff said.
Kurdistan’s parliament has been suspended since October last year, since rising tensions among the main political parties.
“First Barzani has suggested to activate the Kurdistan parliament and suggested that Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) take the presidency of parliament and Gorran take the position of second deputy prime minister,” Fuad Hussein, Barzani’s chief of staff, said in an interview with the Voice of America’s Kurdish service.
“The second suggestion is for other parties in the parliament, exacluding the KDP, PUK and Gorran, to elect three persons for the parliament presidency until the next election.” Hussein said
Hussein said that Barzani, whose extended presidential term ended in August 2015, has announced he is ready to step down if other parties have candidates for the position. Otherwise, they should agree on a solution until the next election in 2017
“Barzani himself had revealed that he is ready to step down if someone is ready to take it (the presidency),” Hussein said.
He added that the political stalemate has become more complicated since the recent rifts inside the PUK.
“Now the problem became bigger, since the PUK officially became two factions; this has created a new problem in Kurdish politics,” Hussein said.
He added that he did not think a summit meeting among all parties would solve the political deadlock, unless they are prepared and ready to reach an agreement
“I do not think a summit meeting will solve the crisis, if there is no good preparation to reach a solution and agreement,” he said.
Relations between Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the opposition Change Movement (Gorran) plummeted in 2015, after rioters set fire to KDP offices and killed two of its local party members in Sulaimani province in November.
The KDP accused Gorran of orchestrating the riots and sacked its three ministers from the KDP-led cabinet, in addition to expelling the speaker of the parliament.
The regional parliament in Erbil has not convened since October 12, 2015, with Gorran demanding that its ousted speaker, Youssef Muhammad, be returned to his post.
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