ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Salahaddin Bahaddin, leader of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), announced on Tuesday that his party has made a firm decision not to join the next Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet. Negotiations to form the upcoming government are currently ongoing.
Answering a question by Rudaw’s Hiwa Jamal during a meeting with reporters, Bahaddin stated, “We cannot participate in the new cabinet under the current circumstances in Kurdistan,” adding that “anyone who joins this system of governance will be defective and will suffer great losses.”
The veteran politician further elaborated that there is no clear outline for the new parliament, and that there is pressure to form the tenth cabinet with urgency. When asked if the failure to form the new cabinet and the inactivity of the parliament would change his party’s decision Bahaddin reaffirmed, “We are unlikely to change our minds.”
The KIU secured seven spots in the 100-seat Kurdish legislature in the long overdue parliamentary elections held last October. The polls saw the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) consolidate its power, coming out on top with 39 seats. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) came in second with 23 spots. The Kurdistan region’s ruling parties announced on Tuesday that they had reached “an initial understanding and agreement on most [pending] issues.”
The KIU did not participate in the formation of the outgoing KRG cabinet. Bahaddin on Tuesday stated that Iraqi, Iranian and Turkish officials have urged them to join the next cabinet “but we said we will not.”
Bahaddin, who has led the KIU since its foundation – except for a brief period between 2014 and 2018 when he temporarily stepped down - was re-elected as the party’s secretary-general during its congress on Friday.
Founded in 1994 amid the Kurdish civil war, the KIU initially focused on proselytizing among Kurds and positioned itself as a strong opposition to the well-established KDP. The party is closely linked to the global Muslim Brotherhood movement and is largely considered as its Kurdish branch.
