ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish politician Rebwar Taha was sworn-in as the new governor of Kirkuk on Wednesday, stating that his primary objective as governor is to turn the province into an exemplary model for peaceful coexistence.
Taha took the legal oath before Qassim Mohammed, president of the Kirkuk Appeal Court, to commence his duties as governor, a day after receiving the presidential decree from Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid.
“We will all carry one identity which is the Kirkuk identity. We will work for Kirkuk and for the future of Kirkuk’s people," said Rebwar Taha during a press conference after taking his oath.
Council members of the Turkmen Front, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and the Arab Alliance did not attend Saturday’s session, when Taha was nominated. All three parties have deemed the meeting to be in violation of the law, with the Arab and Turkmen parties stating they will challenge the outcomes of the session with Iraq’s judiciary.
Taha said on Wednesday that the parties have the right to oppose his appointment and that of Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hafidh as chief of the provincial council, but the Kirkuk governor urged them to work together in service of Kirkuk and its people.
He added: “I call on the political forces; they have the right to oppose the results of the previous provincial council elections in Kirkuk and the election of the governor and council chief, but we also call them to join us and work with us to achieve our goals. No more, no less.”
Dozens of Arabs and Turkmens protested in front of Kirkuk provincial building on Tuesday, opposing the outcomes of the meeting on Saturday.
Taha previously has served two terms in the Iraqi parliament, leading its Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) bloc since 2018. He received nearly 30,000 votes in the provincial election in December - second only to fellow party and provincial council member Nashat Shahwez.
Taha replaces Rakan al-Jabouri, who had served as acting governor of Kirkuk since the ousting of Kurdish Peshmerga forces in October 2017 when the Iraqi federal government returned to power in the oil-rich province.
As one of his first orders of business, the Governor Taha signed a decree to retire Jabouri due to reaching Iraq’s legal retirement age of 60.
