ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and a Sunni Arab alliance ended their months-long boycott of the Nineveh provincial council meetings and took part in sessions again, a KDP member said on Thursday.
“The KDP faction has ended its boycott and attended Tuesday’s meeting because it was related to the issue of public service. It will attend council meetings from now on,” Bashar Kiki, former Nineveh provincial council chief and Iraqi MP, told Rudaw.
Changes in the positions of mayors and district mayors will be put on hold until the issue is fully resolved, according to the KDP’s Kiki.
The Nineveh provincial council is made up of two blocs. On one side is the Nineveh People Union Alliance, including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Shiite parties affiliated with the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and on the other side is the United Nineveh Coalition, composed of the KDP and Sunni parties.
Both sides have been at odds over a decision to replace several mayors and district mayors in a July 2 council meeting that the United Nineveh Coalition boycotted.
The KDP has four seats in the 29-seat council and the PUK has two.
Ahmad Abd Raba, a member of the council, told Rudaw that the United Nineveh Coalition will attend council meetings related to the services in the province and “not other political issues.”
“Tuesday’s meeting was about services, so we participated because without us it is impossible to vote on important projects,” he said.
Iraq held its long-overdue provincial council elections in December in its provinces, excluding the Kurdistan Region. Nineveh, one of Iraq’s multi-ethnic provinces and home to the Yazidi community, saw a 52 percent turnout at the polls.
In February, council members elected Sunni politician Abdulqadir al-Dakhil as governor of the province. Days later, the KDP’s Sirwan Rozhbayani was elected as deputy governor in another vote following lengthy talks.
Nahro Mohammed contributed to this report.
