Finance minister resigns from Gorran to support referendum

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Finance Minister Rebaz Hamlan has ended his membership in Gorran on Monday, saying the party’s lack of support for the Kurdistan independence referendum pushed him to do so. 

 

Hamlan is still officially a minister but has been suspended from working in his post since October 2015 when tensions rose between Gorran and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

 

Hamlan said he could not remain a member of Gorran as the party was not ready to support the referendum and exercising the right to self-determination at this time, even after the KDP dropped all of its conditions to bring back his party to the parliament.

 

As the son of a Peshmerga, Hamlin said he found it necessary to support the independence vote that is both a “national” and “decisive” matter for Kurdistan in the face of global pressure.

 

“I will resign from this point and will end all my relations with Gorran,” Hamlan said.

 

Gorran, Kurdistan’s second largest party, refused to attend the first session of the Kurdistan parliament in two years. In the Friday session, the legislature voted to back the September 25 referendum.

 

Gorran and the Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal), which boycotted the Friday session citing a breach of procedures leading to the sitting, have maintained that the parliament is the right institution to call for the referendum.

 

Gorran’s parliamentary faction said at a press conference on Friday that while they did not attend the session, they believe Kurds have the right to self-determination and eventually an independent state, when the time and conditions are right.