Kurds to meet today with Iraqiya to discuss govt. makeup

Kurds to meet today with Iraqiya to discuss govt. makeup

Sunday, July 25th 2010 12:42 PM



Baghdad, July 25 (AKnews) - A senior member of the Kurdish blocs alliance in Baghdad said Sunday that the alliance is expected to meet with leaders of the Iraqiya coalition - led by former Iraqi interim PM Ayad Allawi - to discuss the issue of forming the new government.

Mahmoud Othman said a meeting was due Sunday between a delegation of Iraqiya list and a group of negotiators from the Kurdish alliance to discuss the current situation on the Iraqi political arena, and the formation of the next Iraqi government, hoping to put things on track.

"Several important unresolved issues will be discussed in the meeting, such as Article 140 (of the Iraqi constitution), the Presidency of the country, and the pending issues between the central government and the Kurdistan Region, aiming to reach good solutions to form a government of national partnership." Othman said.

The meeting between Kurds and Allawi's bloc comes amid reports that Iraqi political parties are expected to meet in Kurdistan with the President of the Region, Massoud Barzani, in a step to encourage the players to make rapprochements and reach an agreement as soon as possible. The formation of the government is already five months late.

A member of the Kurdish negotiation team, Zana Rosatyi, noted the importance of meetings at this high level at this time. "It is a good and important step to reach a solution on the formation of the new government." he said.

A delegation of the Kurdish alliance had held in Baghdad since mid-June several meetings with the winning political blocs in the March 7 elections, with a view to reaching understandings to pave the way for the formation of the next government.

The focus of the Kurdish delegation in Baghdad was on taking assurances from the negotiating parties to enter an alliance for the new government. The assurances include the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution about the disputed areas, in addition to finding a solution with Baghdad on oil deals signed by the regional government (KRG) with foreign companies, as well as the question of the budget of the Regional Guards, or locally known as the "Peshmarga" forces.

Rostayi said this meeting with Allawi's bloc was important for its size and its influence on the areas where Kurds face problems; known as the disputed areas between the KRG and Baghdad, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

However, a member of the Iraqiya list Jamal al-Battikh found the meeting, like other meetings, to lack "seriousness and objectivity"

"I was present yesterday at a meeting of Iraqiya until midnight and the dialogue was going on as if it were the announcement of the final results, rather than rotating around constructive dialogues based on a schedule." al-Battaikh said.

Sources in the Kurdish coalition had announced earlier that the negotiating team will ask for 25 percent of the positions in the new government in Baghdad, including the Presidency of the Republic, which is now held by a Kurd - Jalal Talabani.

No statements from the Kurdish delegation in Baghdad have so far indicated the alliance of the bloc with any other Iraqi parties, except for the reservation of the bloc on specified figures in the Iraqiya list.

The Kurdish blocs alliance consists of the Kurdistan Alliance list - a coalition of the two major Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led by president of Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani - in addition to the Change list, and two Islamic parties, the Islamic Group (IG) and Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU).

On May the 9th, new alliance formally took up the bloc's new name in an effort to unify the political rhetoric of the forces of Kurdistan Region in the new Iraqi parliament, and decided to hold talks with other Iraqi factions to form a new government.

Kurds have 57 seats out of a 325-seat parliament in Iraq.

It is hoped that the leaders of the political blocs in the Iraqi parliament Sunday to meet today to agree on a parliamentary session on Monday to bypass the constitutional deadline. Iraq's first parliamentary session was extended on July 11 for two weeks though some said that the extension violated the constitution. The first session was held on June the 14th, but was a mere symbolic meeting.



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