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Kurdish opposition Gorran party calls on
Iraqi Kurdistan regional govt to resign
31.1.2011
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Seizing on Egypt tumult, Kurdish splinter party
calls on Iraqi regional govt to resign
January
31, 2011
SULAIMANIYAH,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — The main opposition
party in Iraq's Kurdish north is calling on the
regional government to resign, saying protests in
the Arab world should be a wakeup call for its
leaders.
The reformist group called Gorran, Kurdish for
"Change," said Sunday that the ruling parties in the
three provinces comprising the semiautonomous
northern Kurdistan region are corrupt and don't
represent the people.
The parties — the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK
and the Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP — quickly
rebuffed the appeal and said Gorran was trying to
take advantage of the situation in Egypt, Tunisia
and elsewhere. But they promised reforms.
The ruling parties in the Kurdish region, which
was relatively peaceful during Iraq's war,
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Nawshirwan Mustafa, leader of the opposition party
of Gorran. A rally of the Kurdish opposition party
Change in Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region of Iraq,
March 2010. Photo Shwan Mohammed/AFP/Getty Images |
have maintained a firm
grip on power despite allegations of corruption and
media intimidation.
Gorran’s spokesman, Mohammed Tofiq Rahim, expressed
Gorran’s intentions more clearly, saying the Kurdish
people may start protesting against the Kurdish
leadership if it did not make genuine reforms.
“Waves of protest are resonating across the world,”
said Rahim on KNN. “If the KDP and PUK don’t reform,
that could happen here as well.”
Gorran emerged in regional elections in 2009 as a
rival to the two main ruling Kurdish parties and won
25 seats in the parliament. Gorran is challenging
Talabani's PUK,www.ekurd.netand
the KDP of regional
president Massoud Barzani and accuses the parties of
corruption.
The Gorran is headed by the former senior PUK-leader
Nawshirwan Mustafa, who was Talabani’s deputy until
2007. Since the July 2009 elections in which it
secured almost a third of the seats of 111-member
Parliament of Kurdistan.
In its statement Gorran party asked for the
extinguishment of Federal Kurdistan Regional
Government and Kurdistan Regional Parliament and
forming of a neutral technocrat government instead.
Calling on the Kurdish government to resign on the
notice, Gorran party reclaimed the possessions
sequestrated by governor and parties.
The 7 articles of the
statement and and demands of Gorran party are as
follows:
* Dismiss of KDP and PUK from the government,
parliament, judiciary, security forces and Peshmerga
forces,
* Removal of Security Forces (Parastın, Zanyari,
Peshmerga) from the political arena,
* Extinguishment of KDP and PUK government and the
forming of a neutral technocrat government instead,
* Extinguishment of Kurdistan Regional Parliament
and enabling of making the elections in a
transparent way within 3 months,
* Restitution of the possessions sequestrated by
governor and parties to the public,
* Withdrawal of the Kurdistan Region Constitution
Draft and referring the draft to the new parliament
to be formed.
Gorran party asked the political circles in the
Kurdistan Region to support the demands on the
paper.
A demonstration is expected to take place on Monday
in Sulaimaniyah city to protest the shortage of
electricity in Kurdistan.
Gorran said it was not behind the protest, and
meanwhile the KRG has promised to supply
Sulaimaniyah province with 21 hours of power per
day, starting February.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
AP | firatnews.com | ekurd.net
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