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Kurdistan
Supporters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) at a rally in Soran, Erbil province in 2013. File photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leaders have suggested the party will not be holding its long-delayed congress any time soon due to the unrelenting coronavirus pandemic.
The party, celebrating the 74th anniversary of its foundation on Sunday, has not held a congress since December 2010. Party officials said before the coronavirus outbreak that a congress would be held by the end of 2020.
"This current situation requires us to put the matter of congress on hold and see how could we have the opportunity to continue the preparations for the congress," KDP spokesperson Mahmood Mohammed told Rudaw, given that the "large scale meetings and seminars" a congress would include would go against government health regulations.
A committee created to prepare for the congress has held several meetings and laid the groundwork for it to be held, Mohammed added, but coronavirus has forced suspension of their preparations for the time being.
Jaafar Iminiki, a KDP leader and member of the congress preparation committee told Rudaw earlier on Sunday that the party had in fact finished readying itself for the conference.
"All we await is for the situation to normalize and the threats of the coronavirus to go away," Iminiki said.
KDP bylaws state that a congress should be held once every four years – though this interval has not once been adhered to since the party's foundation. The 2010 congress was held after an eleven-year gap, the longest the KDP has ever gone without such a meeting. Party officials have blamed delays since the 2010 congress on the fight against Islamic State (ISIS), as well as the Kurdistan Region's independence referendum and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)'s subsequent loss of territory to federal Iraq.
KDP supporters and members spoken to by Rudaw on the anniversary of the party's foundation have said priorities for the eventual next congress should be to bring in new blood as well as honor past members.
"In the KDP leadership structure, more attention must be paid to young people," Balen Fatih, a member of the KDP cadre in the city of Sulaimani told Rudaw. "Because young people have pioneered all past revolutions and struggles."
Dana Hisam, a KDP supporter in Halabja, said the party should pay more attention to the families of the "largely neglected" party members who have died.
Kazim Qadir, a KDP member in Halabja said the party's new leadership must be "more engaging with the public and leave their doors open to the party's cadres."
The KDP is the Kurdistan Region's largest party, holding 45 parliament seats and top government positions, including president, prime minister and deputy parliament speaker, as well as the post of foreign minister in Mustafa al-Kadhimi's Baghdad cabinet.
The Kurdistan Region has recorded over 21,000 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began, according to KRG health ministry figures, including 11,496 recoveries and 753 deaths.
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