PUK ponders abolishing position, powers of party leader
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is working towards holding its fourth congress early next year, when it is believed the post of party leader will be removed, and the influence of officials who colluded with the Iraqi army to hand over Kirkuk last month will be curbed.
According to its charter the PUK must hold an emergency congress on December 3, 2017, which marks two months since the death of the party leader, Jalal Talabani. Less than a week to this date there is still no news of the congress.
Section 2 of the charter stipulates that the party’s deputy leader, Kosrat Rasul, should assume the powers of the leader until a congress is held. But Rasul is currently recuperating from medical treatment in Germany.
The PUK dissolved its own leadership on November 4 and formed a temporary team to run party affairs till the congress.
There currently are two suggestions: January 31, 2018 or March 1. Members of the PUK Central Council have said that they will set a date for the congress if the leadership fails to reach an agreement on the timing.
“We will try our best to give a chance to the leadership to set a date for the congress. Kosrat’s health is fortunately improving. The leadership is waiting for him to meet,” Latif Nerwaye, spokesperson for the PUK Central Council, told Rudaw.
Nerwaye added that “The majority of the leadership and Central Council want the congress to be held before Kurdistan and Iraqi elections because the PUK cannot win enough votes with its current form and condition.”
He explained that despite the urgency of the matter he and his colleagues know that they must be prepared for some major changes in the structure of the party during the congress.
Talabani who died in Germany on October 3 at the age of 84 was the party’s founder and sole leader. Now his party ponders the abolishment of this position.
Mala Bakhtiar, a senior leader of the PUK said in a recent post on his Facebook page: “I lost faith in the position of secretary after Mam Jalal. I have long argued that the structure of the PUK should be changed and that there should no longer be a first person within the structure.”
Nerwaye told Rudaw that the idea of dividing the powers and duties of the secretary general among various officials is more popular inside the party these days.
“This idea is well-supported by the party’s Central Council and other departments,” said Nerwaye. “It will resolve a big problem within the PUK and remove the obstacle for holding the congress.”
Talabani’s wife Hero Ibrahim Ahmed and her son Bafel met with the PUK Organizational Bureau to discuss preparations for the party’s 4th congress.
“The congress should aim for a complete overhaul of the party’s structure, form of work, decision-making, bylaws and agenda,” Qubad Talabani, younger son of Talabani, said in a statement the following day.
He went on to say that they did not want a congress that would aim at revenge but rather one that would “strengthen our PUK,”
Rudaw has learned that Hero Ibrahim Ahmed and Rasul intend to keep those known as the October 16 Group out of the party congress for their collusion with the Iraqi army and Hashd al-Shaabi militia in handing over Kirkuk last month.