In his response to media questions about the fall of Kirkuk and his non-participation in Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) politburo and leadership meetings, he has accused the Talabani family of monopolizing the PUK, some of them of committing treason, and some of choosing to remain silent, presumably referring to Qubad Talabani.
This is true. However, looking back, the role played by Najmaldin Karim in bringing about this situation is clear.
In all his interviews, Najmaldin Karim was never confronted with the question as to why he, as Jalal Talabani’s only health spokesperson for two years (2012-2014), lied to everyone about his health.
By virtue of his medical specialty, Najmaldin Karim knew full well that Talabani was never going to be able to speak again. Yet he lied to the people and the PUK.
His statements on Talabani’s health condition prevented the replacement of the president of the republic by someone competent and the replacement of the PUK secretary general by one of the party’s two deputies. Had these two positions been filled right away, the PUK wouldn’t have reached the stage it finds itself in currently.
Because of his mendacious statements, he was responsible for the Talabani and Ibrahim Ahmed families monopolizing the PUK and consequently ignoring the dissenters.
Najmaldin Karim was then assigned by the Talabani and Ibrahim Ahmed families to enter the nomination for Iraqi president in order to hurt the chances of a competent candidate like Dr Barham Salih winning the nomination.
If Najmaldin Karim was not picked as a confidant to the Talabani family and had he directed people to the right path, the PUK would not have ended up in its present state, for which he is currently shedding crocodile tears, nor would the Kurdistan Region have faced this situation.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
