ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – While Iraqi Kurdish leaders try settle a political row over their autonomous region’s draft constitution – which is impeding parliamentary and presidential elections -- its MPs differ over how to arrive at a solution.
Kurdish opposition parties call for amendment of the draft constitution in parliament, while the powerful ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party say’s that the issue should be put through a referendum for people to decide.
Earlier this month, KDP head and regional President Massoud Barzani solicited the views of all parties, studied them, and entrusted them to parliament to work out a solution.
Sozan Shahab, head of parliament’s Kurdistani Bloc which includes the KDP and its ruling partner the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), believes that parliament cannot discuss the matter before politicians have resolved it among themselves.
“The constitution is not only a legal issue, it is political as well,” Shahab says. “As soon as political parties find a solution to the current conundrum over the draft constitution, the Kurdistan Parliament can take care of the legal aspects.”
She adds that differences over the issue are so far apart that a consensus appears unlikely, and worries that the delay in ratifying the constitution leaves the parliament powerless and unable to function properly.
“Without a constitution the parliament does not have enough power,” she says. “We need a constitution to solidify the role of parliament in dealing with public issues.”
What parliament can do is to step in and move the process forward as long as the parties come to an agreement, Shahab explains.
The constitutional row has also been a hurdle to regional parliamentary and presidential elections, which were once postponed, slotted again for September, and are likely to be delayed again.
Adnan Osman, an MP from the opposition Change Movement (Gorran), says that discussing the constitution anywhere other than in parliament is out of the question.
“Only parliament can solve the constitution dilemma,” he told Rudaw. “All political parties are represented in parliament. There is no need to talk about the constitution outside of parliament.”
Osman disagrees that the constitution is a political matter, to be decided by political leaders.
“Legal issues are the exclusive right of the parliament, and the constitution is a legal matter. Only parliament should be able to put the constitution through referendum or amendment,” he adds. “No other institution or political party has the right to talk about the constitution.”
While Barzani’s initiative of soliciting views and sending them to parliament has been largely welcomed, Osman believes it was wrong of the president to meddle in constitutional affairs.
“The parliament should not have waited for the presidency to order a debate on the constitution,” he says. “It should have taken the initiative and invited political parties to the parliament for discussion over the draft constitution.”
KDP MP Abdulsalam Barwari blames opposition parliamentarians for the constitutional dilemma. He says that parliament had approved the constitution years ago, and there is no need to sit down and debate it again.
“The parliament has successfully and legally completed its task toward the constitution, and there is no need to return the draft constitution to the parliament,” he says. “The disagreement has to be solved among political parties.”
Barwari accuses opposition groups of not being sincere about settling the issue. “The opposition’s main agenda is to use the current disagreement over the constitution as a political agenda ahead of the election, without considering the interests of the people of Kurdistan,” he says.
For his part, Aram Qadir, an MP from the Islamic League (Komal) is certain that parliament could have ended the deadlock long ago, were it not for party interference in the process.
“Parliament as a legal institution can solve any political or legal issue, because it is the highest legislative authority in the region,” he says. “But unfortunately, party interference in the affairs of parliament has limited its effectiveness.”
According to Qadir, the dispute is not new, and parliament had decided a special committee to look into the issue two years ago.
“It was resolution No. 2 of the parliament and it has yet to be implemented,” he says.
“The ruling parties should let the parliament play its role and solve the problem through negotiation among the parliamentary blocs,” he adds.
