The ambassador advised Kurdish political parties to reach a compromise and form the government before Iraq’s national elections, “because I think it would be from a much more stronger position that you would then enter the national elections.”
The Kurdistan Region elected a new parliament in October, but the parties have to begin formal government formation talks. Iraq is expected to hold parliamentary elections in 2025, though no date has been set.
Regarding Iraq's security situation, Alberda said that while some pockets of Islamic State (ISIS) fighters remain, the country is much safer compared to when she served as Consul General to Erbil from 2016 to 2018.
The Netherlands is currently leading NATO’s Advisory Mission to Iraq and Alberda said she anticipates there will be bilateral defense and security agreements following the withdrawal of international forces when the global coalition ends its anti-ISIS mission in Iraq next year.
The following is the full interview with Ambassador Janet Alberda that was conducted on October 30 and released Saturday:
Rudaw: Janet Alberda welcome to Rudaw thank you for this opportunity. The election is done in Kurdistan and now we know the results from the commission. What are your thoughts on the outcome?
Ambassador Janet Alberda: I'm really happy that the elections took place. I think it was very incumbent on the Kurdistan political parties to organize these elections. They were upcoming for I think two years. I'm really happy that they took place. I understand that they took place in a very positive way, a lot of enthusiastic people that went into the poll, into the elections systems, and the locals, and that they made their democratic vote. And that is I think the most important message. And I really want to congratulate the Kurdistan authorities, Kurdistan political parties on having organized these elections.
What's your message to the key political parties, the two biggest winners, PUK [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan] and KDP [Kurdistan Democratic Party]?
Well, I was here three, four weeks ago, and I spoke with a few of these parties and I particularly supported them in, or I encouraged them to have the elections taking place. I've not been able to speak yet with the political parties because I'm here doing the MERI Forum, but I think my message would be, in alignment of many other of my European colleagues, that it would be very helpful and we would like to encourage the parties to form a government prior to the national elections, because I think it would be from a much more stronger position that you would then enter the national elections.
You're familiar with the Kurdistan Region political situation. Do you think that forming the government will take a long time, as it happened in the Netherlands?
I hope they don't follow the model in the Netherlands. I mean, I think our model is of course also good, because we are always known to have elections and then have a consensus government. Currently, we have a government that is formed by four political parties and you always need a compromise, if you form a particular government. And I think the needs and the challenges, both in the Kurdistan Region as well as in the federal parts of Iraq are huge. And I think the people really need to have a government that leads and that really starts policies to implement them, et cetera, et cetera. So don't follow the Dutch, I will say. And try to see if you can overcome your own agenda and seek for that compromise and seek for a consensus government.
Sounds like ‘follow us in everything but not in this particular [thing]...’
Yeah, I think we are of course both a parliamentary democracy. And it always takes time, but if you really want to form a government you need to sometimes overstep your own political priorities and you need to think about the good for your citizens and that means that given the challenges, it's really important to start ahead and plan.
The opposition in Kurdistan, do you think in this new parliament they are in a weaker status?
Well, I think some of the opposition parties, they've not really gained as many seats as they would have liked. So that means that you are ultimately not on the winning hand. You're not there to form a government unless you are invited and also unless you raise your hands. But I think as an opposition you can also do your job and your responsibilities. It's also good to have opposition as well.
Regarding women now, there are more women in the parliament and before we had the speaker of the parliament was a woman too. What's your thoughts on this? Now that we have more women…
I think it's wonderful if there are more women in parliament. Of course, we encourage to have a very inclusive society. This is what we would like to see in any country, in any given municipality or provincial council. The more inclusive you are, we feel that the better rate for success.
I want to ask about some support that Netherlands provides to Iraq and also the Kurdistan Region, especially when it comes to climate change and agriculture.
How do you support Iraq when we say agriculture? Netherlands is one of the most developed countries, especially dealing with water, agriculture. What are your current projects now?
Well, we have many, and I think many of my predecessors, also my consular team, has elaborated on this quite extensively over the last years. We opened up once an office here in the Kurdistan Region to actually explore trade and economic opportunities and look at what we have right now. We have quite a large Consulate General, and I'm really proud to have also been Consul General here between 2016 and 2018, which was of course a different timeframe. But if I see where they come from since 2018, what type of programs we have, particularly in supporting agribusinesses, supporting the Kurdistan Region, in the dairy sector, in the agri
sector, you name it, everything which is green. Your largest number two export product these days is a potato, and I think that comes a lot from our expertise. You also, in your own policy, you actually copy and paste some of the policy advice that we also have in our own country.
So I'm really proud of the work that we deliver collectively. It's not just government-to-government support. It's also primarily, also private-to-private. And we have also knowledge institutions that provide their knowledge and expertise to knowledge institutions here in the Kurdistan Region.
The same is something to be explored, we are currently exploring that for the federal parts of Iraq because Iraq has so many other agricultural opportunities. And with the economic reform agenda and the push by the Prime Minister al-Sudani on all these areas, I see many opportunities for us to engage more.
So I'm really proud with the way that we help your governments, the regional governments in all these areas because you need to diversify your economy and particularly in the field of agricultural business or water management.
And given the fact you mentioned climate change. Iraq is one of the five countries that is going to be mostly affected by climate change. We have a shared challenge that we would like to help you with. I mean, I must remind you as well that climate change for a country like the Netherlands, which is so much affected by water and the sea, not the sea rise, I would say the water rise in the sea, that is going to affect us as well. So we have a shared challenge in this area.
My last question would be about the situation - security. Do you consider ISIS [Islamic State] as a threat and meanwhile there's a negotiation between the United States and Iraq regarding changing the mission of the presence of United States troops. First, regarding ISIS, do you think ISIS is still a threat to Iraq's security and regional security? And also, do you think a step like withdrawing the international forces from Iraq, this is the right time to go through such a step?
Well, I think whether, you know, foreign forces, whether they withdraw from a country, of course, that goes hand in hand with good consultations with Iraqi authorities. I have to always remind myself of the period I was here, 2016-2018, the security situation was a completely different one. When I now arrived in Baghdad six years ago, six weeks ago I must say, but the last time I was in Baghdad it was six years ago, the situation is completely different.
And I think there are still pockets where there are ISIS perpetrators. And I think the Iraqi security forces, they are now much more on top of things and being able to, together with the international forces, to protect themselves and to make the security situation more safer.
So I'm actually quite happy with the way that the security situation in the country is changing and developing. You know that we are currently the lead in the NATO Advisory Mission. So the NATO Advisory Mission is something different than the Coalition Inherent Resolve, where we also have people. I understand that with the withdrawal of the forces, there will be bilateral defense and security agreements. I think that's a right step to take given the situation that Iraq is currently in. And we are ready to take our parts and ready to also look into, you know, ways of cooperation in the security sector.
Janet Alberda thank you very much.
Thank you very much, thank you very much for the opportunity.
