The decision of the Kirkuk Council threatens to block the adoption of the provincial elections law

The decision of the Kirkuk Council threatens to block the adoption of the provincial elections law

 Baghdad / Mohammed Sabah

The initial agreement reached by the components of Kirkuk to overcome the node of local elections, threatened to collapse after the decision of the provincial council to include a referendum in the Kurdistan region to be held in September next.


The Arab component is required to deal with the decision of the recent Kirkuk Council, in return for resuming negotiations with the Kurdish component, which was supposed to start after the Eid holiday. In the view of the representatives of the Arabs of Kirkuk that the inclusion of the referendum will prevent passage of the law of provincial elections.
The Kurdish blocs reduce the importance of reservations made by some components in Kirkuk, denying the existence of a link between the annexation of Kirkuk to the disappearance and the holding of local elections that have been stalled since 2005. The MP of the Union of Iraqi forces, Mohammad Tamim, told the (range) yesterday, "The decision of the province Kirkuk by agreeing to involve them in a referendum in the Kurdistan region will block all efforts to pass the law of provincial elections after the Eid holiday.
The Kirkuk Provincial Council voted on a request by Governor Najmuddin Kareem during a session on Tuesday on the decision to include the province for a referendum in the Kurdistan region in the province of Arab and Turkmen representatives.
The decision comes after the recent rapprochement between the components of Kirkuk on the organization of local elections in conjunction with the rest of the provinces, after a series of amendments to Article 37 of the draft law on provincial elections and districts and districts. The article on the organization of the Kirkuk elections blocked the completion of the vote on the provincial elections law in more than one session of the parliament, in view of the continuing dispute between the Kurdish component and the rest of the components of the governorate to maintain the distribution of posts and decide the fate of the province.
"One of the conditions for resuming negotiations with the Kurdish component after the Eid holiday is to cancel the decision of the Kirkuk provincial council and prevent its annexation to the region in the referendum," said Tamim, a senior Kirkuk Arab deputy. "The decision will create a major crisis in the House of Representatives." The leader of the Union of Forces that "the final agreement, reached by the components of Kirkuk, stopped at two points; first, which determines the fate of the province of Kirkuk? And secondly, when the voter register is checked; before the elections during the elections or after the elections? Stressing that "this agreement became a threat after the decision of the Kirkuk Provincial Council."
The Kirkuk Provincial Council, which was elected in 2005, consists of 41 members, 26 to the Kurdish Brotherhood list, 9 to the Turkmen and 6 to the Arabs. In the coming years, the governorate has not witnessed elections at the level of the provincial councils due to disagreements over determining the percentages of the representation of the components and the failure to implement Article 140. The PUK bloc responds to the threats of MP Mohammad Tamim saying that "the subject of the referendum is different, Considering the disruption of the agreement will lead to the return of all rounds of negotiations.
"The components of Kirkuk, through a series of meetings, reached advanced stages to resolve the crisis of organizing the elections for the province," MP Amir Karim said in a statement. He added that "the agreement will resume after the Eid holiday to pass the law of provincial elections, which has become dependent on resolving the problem of Kirkuk."
And recognizes the decision of the House of Representatives MP Christian Imad John the difficulty of passing the law of provincial elections under the recent decision taken by the Kirkuk Provincial Council, considering that this will be the conclusion of final agreements on Article 37 on the organization of the vote in Kirkuk.
Article (37 / I) of the provincial elections law that "Kirkuk provincial council elections and districts after taking into account the following:
a / review and audit data and records all, concerning the population status of the province , including the voter register.
B / identify a mechanism for sharing The highest positions in the province except the federal posts to ensure representation of all components of the province
c / The status of the province of Kirkuk remains as it is now until the House of Representatives decide to put the province in the future.
Among the controversial articles facing the passing of the provincial elections law is article 52 of Law No. 36, which provides for the sharing of power among Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds by 32% each, compared to 4% for the Christian component.
"In the event that the parties do not reach an agreement that deals with the issue of Kirkuk provincial elections, the parliament will resort to presenting the government proposal to vote along with the proposals of all components," John said in a statement. He stressed that "any of these proposals that get the highest votes, will be passed in the
House of Representatives."


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]