“The main reason for not forming a local administration in Kirkuk is the internal issues and disagreements in the Kurdish camp. The Kurdistan Democratic Party [KDP] and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan [PUK] cannot reach an agreement,” Raad Salih, head of the Qiyada Alliance in the council, told Rudaw on Saturday.
He said the Kurdish parties’ lack of unity have complicated negotiations. “We were hoping to have a discussion with a component, not the parties. The Arabs are three parties but have united under one coalition. We were expecting to hold discussions with representatives of the Kurdish components, not the KDP and the PUK.”
Kirkuk held provincial council elections on December 18, with none of the multi-ethnic city’s components managing to win a clear majority of the seats.
The Arab Alliance, Uruba Alliance, and Qiyada Alliance won a combined six seats, giving Arabs the second-highest number of seats after the Kurds, who obtained seven spots on the 16-seat council - five for the PUK and two for the KDP.
Without a clear majority, the different groups must negotiate to select a governor and fill the positions on the council, but they have been unable to do so.
The Kurds have put the blame elsewhere. Ahmed Kirkuki, a PUK member of the council, on Friday said the delay was the fault of Arab and Turkmen parties. Salih denied Kirkuki’s claims.
“Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen are adamant on assuming the governorship of Kirkuk, but the results of the elections showed that none of Kirkuk’s components are a majority. Therefore, one component cannot assume this position without reaching a compromise with the other parties,” Salih said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Wednesday chaired a meeting between Kirkuk’s political parties, during which they agreed to hold a provincial council session within an agreed-upon timeframe, but did not publicly specify a date.
Salih said that the Iraqi premier has given the parties two weeks to resolve their issues, adding that all the components are close to reaching the conclusion that the governorship needs to be rotated between the Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen.
Rakan al-Jabouri, a Sunni politician and head of the Arab coalition, has served as Kirkuk’s acting governor for the past six years. The Iraqi federal government’s return to power in Kirkuk in 2017 marked the first time the province’s governorship was filled by a non-Kurdish politician since 2003.
