Former general coordinator Omar Sayyid Ali handed over responsibility for leading the party to Dana Ahmed Majid during a ceremony in a park in Sulaimani.
The handover was not done at the party headquarters at Zargata Hill because it was closed by the sons of Gorran founder Nawshirwan Mustafa. The sons control Gorran’s real estate holdings and they blocked off access to the hill in the center of Sulaimani city after expressing dissatisfaction over the appointment of the new leader.
The gate to Zargata Hill will remain closed “indefinitely, to prevent chaos and the safety of all,” according to a statement from Mustafa’s sons.
Gorran’s national assembly, a senior body in the party’s structure, in a statement on Friday rejected the appointment of Majid, saying that party bylaws require the leader to be elected.
“You cannot appoint an acting general coordinator in the Gorran Movement. We want to choose a general coordinator through an election, they want an acting one through a coup. This is unprecedented in the world,” read the statement.
Dler Abdulkhaliq, Gorran spokesperson, said during a press conference that they were forced to appoint a new leader under regulations set by Iraq’s electoral body for next month’s parliamentary election.
He also condemned the decision to close the headquarters.
“That place is public property and should never become private property. We are loyal to the beliefs, service, and vision of the Gorran Movement, and do not put an eye on the personal property of Mr. Nawshirwan. We are, however, committed to Mr. Nawshirwan's vision for serving the Gorran Movement,” he said.
Gorran is a pro-reform party that shook the foundations of the ruling parties when it won 25 seats in the 111 regional parliament in 2009. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) together received only 59 seats in that vote. Gorran was the first opposition party in the Kurdish parliament’s history.
The party, however, made several unpopular decisions that saw it dramatically fall out of favor with voters, including handing power to Mustafa’s sons after his death and opting to make agreements with the KDP and PUK. Supporters saw this as Gorran turning away from its opposition, democratic roots and in the most recent election - for Iraq's parliament in 2021 - the party failed to win a seat.
Following that devastating defeat, all members of Gorran’s governing body, including leader Ali, resigned.
Majid is only the third leader in the party’s history. He was a former high-ranking member of the PUK, a former governor of Sulaimani, and a former head of the city’s security forces. He left the Kurdistan Region over a decade ago and returned earlier this year when he was immediately poised to assume the leadership of Gorran.
On September 19, Ali signed a power of attorney in which he gave to Majid all administrative and financial authority, including use and lease of property, signing documents and contracts, except for the purchase of property.
