CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VI (1) Contemporary-Eurasia-VI-1-engl | Page 30

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VI (1)
The legal provision adopted and ratified by the majority of
Kurdistan parliament extended the term of the Kurdistan region
president from August 20, 2013 to August 19, 2015 3 . The discussion
in parliament on June 30, 2013 devolved into physical fighting
between the PUK and the Gorran. As the Speaker from the PUK tried
to read the relevant paper there was uproar, with opposition MPs
heckling and shouting “Fraud!” and “Illegal!”. There were fights
between MPs from the ruling KDP and PUK and those of the
opposition parties. The police arrived and they arrested one opposition
MP, Abdullah Mullah Nuri 4 .
On August 20, 2015 the extended term also expired, however
Masoud Barzani refused to step down and hold new elections, arguing
that Kurdistan is in a state of war. The refusal to seize power evolved
into political crisis in Iraqi Kurdistan.
According to the law in Kurdistan, Barzani cannot run for
presidency anymore. Barzani told al-Monitor. “My objective is to
reach that point, to have an independent Kurdistan. And that is a
pledge from me. The day we have an independent Kurdistan, I will
cease to be the president of that Kurdistan. And I will congratulate the
Kurdistan people and let someone else take my place. This is a pledge
from me — I will not be the president of Kurdistan” 5 .
The Gorran opposed him and demanded to step down. Protests and
violence br oke out in Sulaymaniyah and Halabja because of unpaid
salaries. The KRG accused the Gorran of fueling the protests to use it
as leverage in the talks over the presidential stalemate 6 . The prime
minister of Iraq's Kurdish region Nechirvan Barzani fired four cabinet
ministers and barred the speaker of parliament from entering the
3
See: The provision in Kurdish, http://www.perlemanikurdistan.com/ files/
articles/210713115701.pdf
4
Fistfight in Iraq's Kurdistan Parliament, between PUK and Gorran members,
30.06.2013 http://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/6/state7183.htm
5
Zaman A., Massoud Barzani Vows to Fight Corruption with Same Dedication
as KRG has Fought IS, 22.03.2016, https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/
originals/2016/03/turkey-iraq-syria-kurds-massoud-barzani-interview.html
6
Goudsouzian T., Machiavellian Politics in Iraqi Kurdistan, 13.10.2015,
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/analysis-machiavellian-politics-iraqi-
kurdistan-151013094035698.html
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