ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Members of Iraqi parliament’s Shiite bloc are calling for the abolition of an article in the Iraqi constitution that seeks to settle the status of areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, a source in the legislative body told Rudaw. Viyan Sabri, a member of Iraqi Parliament and the body’s Constitution Amendment Committee, claimed that certain Shiite members of parliament are seeking the abolition of Article 140. “In a meeting with the Constitution Amendment Committee, some Shiite members thought that the article should be abolished from the constitution,” the MP told Rudaw’s Rozhan Abubakir on Wednesday, without naming who exactly was seeking out the removal. Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution calls for the resolution of disputed areas in the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Salahadin. It includes measures aimed at rectifying the Arabization policies implemented under the rule of dictator Saddam Hussein. The resolution was meant to be settled by no later than 2007 through a referendum for inhabitants of the territory to decide whether to join the Kurdistan Region or remain tied to the federal Iraqi government. But the article was never implemented amid disputes between the KRG and the Iraqi government, with Baghdad fearful that KRG control of oil-rich Kirkuk would make a Kurdish state viable. The article has been a matter of argument between Iraqi politicians for years. Fadhil Fatlawi, an MP from the Shiite Al-Sadiqoun bloc, a party affiliated with Qais Khazali’s Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, described the article as controversial from its inception. “Article 140 has been disputed upon from the beginning,” the MP told Rudaw. “We believe that the only way to address the issues caused by this article is through dialogue and understanding with all parties in parliament.” Along with the parliamentary committee, Iraq’s presidency has also formed a committee led by the president’s advisor Ali Shukri to amend the constitution. “The committee has found the best solution for Article 140,” Abdulmuhsin Saadun, a member of the committee told Rudaw. “The article needs to be implemented within two years from the time the parliament votes on the amendment of the constitution.” “The federal government and the KRG will be held accountable in case of any negligence in this matter,” he claimed. The disputed territories are home to ethnically diverse population, but were Arabized under Baath regime rule. Kurds were expelled, with their lands confiscated and given to Arab settlers. Following the US invasion of 2003 and the toppling of the regime, a new national constitution, including Article 140, was finalized in 2005. Both Turkmen and Arab parties have expressed disapproval of the article, calling it favorable to Kurds and saying that it does not solve the territorial dispute.
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