ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Shaswar Abdulwahid, leader of the Kurdistan Region’s main opposition New Generation Movement (NGM), formed a seven-member board prior to his arrest to run his party's affairs and make preparations for Iraq's November parliamentary elections, in his absence, his party said Monday.
A court in Sulaimani on September 2 sentenced Abdulwahid to five months in jail on charges of threatening a former member of his movement.
"Shaswar Abdulwahid, leader of our Movement, selected a seven-member board to lead the Movement and run the elections' affairs, prior to his arrest and his sentence by court," the NGM said in a statement.
One of the board members told Rudaw on Monday that the leading group consists of "Srwa Abdulwahid, head of the NGM bloc in the Iraqi parliament, Kurdawan Jamal, head of the [party’s] bloc in the Kurdistan Region parliament, and lawmakers Rebwar Awrahman, Kawa Abdulqadir, Sipan Amedi, Omed Mohammed, and Farooq Ghafur."
"The board started work as soon as Shaswar Aabdulwahid was arrested, and they will continue doing so until his release," the board member said, on the condition of anonymity.
Sulaimani security forces arrested Abdulwahid in mid-August, following a judicial decree dated August 3 that revealed the NGM leader had been sentenced in absentia to six months in prison under Article 431 of the Iraqi Penal Code, which pertains to making serious threats against others, their property, or their reputation. However, the court on Tuesday reduced the term to five months.
The original complaint dates back to 2021 and was filed by Shadi Nawzad, a former member of the Kurdistan Region’s parliament and of Abdulwahid’s own party, the NGM.
In early September, the Kurdistan Region’s finance ministry also noted that properties owned by Abdulwahid will be put up for public auction due to accumulated debts amounting to 92 billion Iraqi dinars (around $70 million).
The confiscated assets include a total of 60 properties, ranging from lands to hotels, cafeterias, and tourist cabins.
The ministry’s decision came a week after it had shut down Abdulwahid’s Chavy Land theme park in Sulaimani - one of the largest in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region - due to alleged tax evasion.
The NGM is the Kurdistan Region’s most vocal opposition force. Formed by Abdulwahid to contest the 2018 regional elections, it has seen a dramatic rise in popularity and scored third place in the October 20 Kurdistan parliament elections with 15 seats.
