ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Nechirvan Barzani will be sworn in as the Kurdistan Region’s new president on Monday in a ceremony attended by local and international dignitaries. It marks the beginning of a new phase of governance and relations with the outside world.
Unlike Iraq, where the president’s powers are merely ceremonial, the powers of the Kurdistan Region president count for a lot. He holds the highest executive authority and is commander-in-chief of all armed forces.
The power of the presidency has created serious controversy and discord among political parties since it was first introduced in 2005. The office was suspended following the September 2017 Kurdistan independence referendum and the subsequent resignation of then-President Masoud Barzani.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) candidate for the presidency, Nechirvan Barzani, the incumbent prime minister and nephew of Masoud, secured the votes of 68 lawmakers out of the 81 MPs present in the parliamentary session on May 28.
After assuming office as president, Barzani is expected to assign his cousin Masrour Barzani to form the new cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Masrour is the son of Masoud and current chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC).
With a new president in office and a cabinet taking shape, will this be a period marked by change or a cementing of the status quo?
In a conference organized by Rudaw Research Center on Saturday, officials from the Region’s main political parties voiced their optimism about the president’s leadership skills and experience as prime minister. They also outlined a roadmap and a set of recommendations for the new president to consider in his agenda for the next four years.
Governance
The Kurdistan Region currently has a presidential system with executive powers vested in the president, but lacks a functioning constitution. Major political parties like the PUK, Gorran, Komal, KIU, and New Generation have called for a parliamentary democracy enshrined in a constitution voted for by the public.
These parties are at odds with the KDP over whether Kurdistan should have a presidential or parliamentary system of governance.
Speaking about the problem of governance in the Kurdistan Region, PUK leadership member Arez Abdullah argued the crux of the matter stems from Kurdistan’s presidential law which was recently amended by the parliament to reactivate the office of presidency.
“There are disagreements and differences of opinion on governance system, which mainly originate from the Region’s presidential law,” Abdullah said.
“The Kurdistan Region’s presidential law and constitution should be amended such that all parties are certain the future governance system in Kurdistan is a parliamentary democracy.”
Disagreements over a governance system for Kurdistan have been ongoing partly because of the lack of a constitution that enshrines a system for the Region, and this is seen by some parties as an obstacle for the new president.
“Not having a constitution poses a problem for this establishment [presidency office]. In the past four years, this establishment caused a number of crises in the Kurdistan Region because of the lack of a constitution. Part of the political, economic and social crises were due to this,” Arian Raouf from Gorran’s political research office told the conference.
“There is a fear the lack of a constitution will cause another crisis in the Kurdistan Region.”
Political monopoly
Several parties believe the presidency has been monopolized by the KDP to further strengthen its grip on power. Kurdish parties have called on Barzani to change this perception of the establishment through non-partisan policies and by turning it into a ‘national institution’ for all.
“The presidency of the Region should disentangle itself from the view that it is the presidency of the KDP, as portrayed very unfortunately by some political parties’ media outlets in the past,” said Karwan Akraye, general manager of the KDP’s official television channel KurdistanTV and a high-level party cadre.
“It should become presidency of the entire Kurdistan Region and all parties… and should have a more non-partisan nature.”
The Gorran official warned the “people of the Kurdistan Region have lost trust in this establishment.”
The priority for the new president should therefore be to “recuperate peoples’ trust and this can be done through representing the people of Kurdistan and having a national rather than party agenda.”
The PUK official too urged the new president to build a “common understanding with all the parties in Kurdistan so that these parties are certain the political direction in the Kurdistan Region is not guided by one or two parties.”
Parties have cautioned that the presidency will again cause problems for the political process in the Kurdistan Region if the position is not turned into a national institution.
New crises will emerge in the Kurdistan Region “if the Region’s presidency establishment is not treated as a national institution, or if it represents a person, a tribe or a particular political party,” Raouf warned.
Foreign relations
Although the KRG has 14 official representation offices worldwide, its foreign relations continue to be influenced by party politics.
Kurdish parties have urged the new president to nationalize and institutionalize these connections in a way they represent the interests of the Kurdistan Region instead of political parties.
“The presidency of the Kurdistan Region should work hard to bring party relations with the outside world under good control so that these relations reflect the will and perspectives of the Kurdistan Region rather than political parties,” Akraye argued.
“The Kurdistan Region’s relations should be non-partisan. These relations should reflect the Kurdistan Region, its political, social, and national structure.”
Nationalizing these relations and developing them depends largely on whether there is political will to resolve internal problems over the political process and natural resources.
“The presidency establishment cannot be effective in regional or international relations if political crises in the Kurdistan Region are not resolved,” Raouf warned.
How will he do?
Abdulsalam Barwari, a former KDP MP, said parties should be realistic in their assessment of what Barzani can achieve during his tenure as president.
“In assessing the work of Nechirvan Barzani, our expectations should be within framework of the duties assigned to him,” Barwari said. “Nechirvan Barzani is dealing with a unique reality.”
“We are at a pre-industrialization phase. We think as a tribe and an agricultural society. Whether we like it or not, the friction or power wrangling within the government and parties doesn’t look like a rivalry between two parties or two legitimate and rational establishments. It looks like rivalry between two clans or tribes. And I believe we will rotate within this circle unless we acknowledge this reality and tackle these frictions and rivalries. This is the reality Nechirvan Barzani is dealing with in his treatment with parties.”
