Nechirvan Barzani in Najaf for meetings with Shiite leaders
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Nechirvan Barzani, deputy head of the KDP, arrived in Najaf city on Sunday for meetings with Shiite leaders.
Received by Najaf governor, Barzani also met with Muqtada al-Sadr, head of the Sayirun alliance at his home in the holy city of Najaf, the centre of Shiite power in Iraq.
They discussed the need to speed up the process of forming the next government so that it can get to work, according to a statement from the cleric’s office.
This is a common theme among politicians under pressure to put together a government more than four months after the election was held and after a summer of deadly, angry protests in Basra.
Parliament elected its speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, on September 15. The legislature will next sit on September 25, two days after the nomination period for the presidency ends, but voting for the president is not on the agenda.
Under timelines stipulated by the constitution, the president must be elected by the parliament by October 3, according to deputy speaker Bashir Haddad.
The post is traditionally held by a Kurd from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), but Kurdish parties are unable to agree on a single name and will be fielding at least five nominees.
The PUK condemned Barzani’s trip as a betrayal of their pledge to be unified in the Iraqi capital.
Sadr did not run in the election himself but, as head of the alliance that secured the most votes and leader of a large populist movement, he carries a lot of influence.
Barzani, who is also prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, is in Iraqi cities to discuss formation of the next government. He arrived in Baghdad Saturday evening where he met with leaders of most of the major political factions.
Received by Najaf governor, Barzani also met with Muqtada al-Sadr, head of the Sayirun alliance at his home in the holy city of Najaf, the centre of Shiite power in Iraq.
They discussed the need to speed up the process of forming the next government so that it can get to work, according to a statement from the cleric’s office.
This is a common theme among politicians under pressure to put together a government more than four months after the election was held and after a summer of deadly, angry protests in Basra.
Parliament elected its speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, on September 15. The legislature will next sit on September 25, two days after the nomination period for the presidency ends, but voting for the president is not on the agenda.
Under timelines stipulated by the constitution, the president must be elected by the parliament by October 3, according to deputy speaker Bashir Haddad.
The post is traditionally held by a Kurd from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), but Kurdish parties are unable to agree on a single name and will be fielding at least five nominees.
The PUK condemned Barzani’s trip as a betrayal of their pledge to be unified in the Iraqi capital.
Sadr did not run in the election himself but, as head of the alliance that secured the most votes and leader of a large populist movement, he carries a lot of influence.
In his meeting with Barzani, he stressed, “the need for the next government to be paternal and patriotic, and not to differentiate between the ethnic and religious groups of Iraq and to focus on meeting the aspirations of the people and providing services and improving their general conditions."
Barzani, who is also prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, is in Iraqi cities to discuss formation of the next government. He arrived in Baghdad Saturday evening where he met with leaders of most of the major political factions.
Updated at 1:24 pm