ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) politburo executive has said that if the majority of people don’t accept independence for the nation, then the nation needs to be re-educated in spite of the wants of the ruling parties.
“We will be holding the referendum to know whether or not the nation wants independence for Kurdistan. We say this publicly, if the majority of people didn’t accept independence for Kurdistan, we cannot, neither the PUK nor the KDP or other parties, say that we should be independent,” said Mala Bakhtiar at a forum in Khanaqin. “Rather, we should leave this question for a number of years until we educate our nation again.
Bakhtiar sees a referendum on independence as a right acknowledged by the Iraqi constitution and a part of democracy.
“Holding a referendum is a national question. It is a question related to democratic processes. It is the right of the individual and the public. The constitution is based on democratic principles,” he said. “Hence, we too can benefit from the constitution so that we (protect) our rights as determined in the constitution and hold the referendum in a way which is suitable and serves the democratic process.”
The Kurdistan Region-Iraqi relations as they exist today trace their roots back to the 1970 revolt, the establishment of a no-fly zone and creation of a semi-autonomous region in 1991 and the transitional constitution of 2005.
“We are not going to hold the referendum in Basra. We will be holding it somewhere called southern Kurdistan,” Bakhtiar added. “Hence, the Iraqi government in no way can prevent us from holding the referendum. What they say is warmongering to the law and democracy.”
The opposition Gorran Movement (Change) and the PUK have stated that they will support the vote after the reactivation of the parliament which has been shut down since October 2015 after heated disagreements between Gorran and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) effectively dismantled a power-sharing deal between the two rivalling parties.
The deputy speaker of parliament Jaafar Ibrahim told Rudaw in an interview that months of meetings and negotiations between Kurdish parties have led to an understanding that the parliament must reopen which he believes might happen by June.
"There is good mutual understanding on this question. I think the parliament will be reactivated in a month," Ibrahim of the KDP said on Monday.
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