ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The secretary-general of the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party, Muhammad Haji Mahmoud, aka Kaka Hama, has told Rudaw that US, UK and UN representatives asked Kurdish parties to postpone political reform for another two years, and allow current Kurdistan region President Masoud Barzani to remain in office past the expiration of his current term on Thursday.
“American and British representatives in the meeting both advised us and warned us,” Mahmoud said.
“They told us this is not the right time to reform, with Kurdistan facing the Islamic State, and it can’t deal with other issues,” said the famed Peshmerga leader, who attended the meeting of 16 Kurdish parties Tuesday in Erbil held to reach consensus over Barzani remaining in office.
"The UK and US representatives told us that if Kurds distract themselves with internal issues, they won’t have the support of the UK and the US in fighting the Islamic State,” Mahmud told Rudaw.
US Deputy Special Envoy Brett H. McGurk on his Twitter account said he along with British Ambassador to Iraq Frank Baker had attended the Kurdish parties meeting in Erbil to reach a consensus over the region’s presidency issue.
He said he was invited by Kurdish political parties to discuss the political situation and urge unity against ISIS. In an earlier tweet, McGurk urged Kurdish parties to be united against ISIS in honor of 1,200 Peshmerga killed fighting the extremists.
“The Iraqi Kurdistan region’s presidential—that presidential issue—is an internal political matter, and this is a decision for the people and parties of the Iraqi Kurdistan region to make together," US State Department spokesperson John Kirby told journalists Monday.
He added: “We aren’t taking a position. This is a—this presidential issue is—for the people of the region to work together and to decide and to determine.”
In the absence of a regional constitution to regulate term limits, the question of whether Barzani should stay past his term or leave has caused a debate in parliament and Kurdish society.
"In today's meeting there were strong opinions about the postponing of the parliament Wednesday emergency session on the presidency issue," Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff to the Kurdistan region presidency, told Rudaw.
Supporters of Barzani say given the current conditions in Iraq and the ongoing war with ISIS, the president should continue past his term until the region and country are able to hold elections.
