Iraqi Kurdish opposition group rejects regional president's orders to leave Arbil

Iraqi Kurdish opposition party Gorran said on Monday it has rejected orders by the leading Kurdish party, headed by regional President Masoud Barzani, for its officials and politicians to leave Arbil, the capital of Iraq's northern semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, an opposition official said.

"The Gorran movement does not comply with the orders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to prevent the speaker of the Kurdistan regional parliament (member of the movement) and ministers of the movement from attending their jobs in Arbil," Mohammed Haji, head of Gorran's political office, told reporters here.

"No political party or person has the right to breach the legitimacy of the parliament," Haji said.

"The Gorran movement is part of the government and the parliament of Kurdistan in accordance with the (regional) electoral results, not by a charity from any other party," Haji said, warning that the opposition movement will inform all the foreign consulates and other international bodies about the measures taken by Barzani's KDP.

The opposition's rejection came after reports that Gorran's top politicians and officials were asked by the KPD to leave Arbil, which is dominated by partisans of Barzani's KDP.

The KDP move came amid a wave of violent protests against Barzani in the opposition stronghold of Sulaimaniyah city, which Barzani's KDP accused Gorran of fomenting.

The regional parliament speaker, Yousif Mohammed Sadiq, and three regional ministers from the Gorran party were asked earlier by the KDP to leave the city of Arbil, according to the reports.

Sulaimaniyah, in the eastern part of the region, is controlled by opposition parties, mainly the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which Iraqi President Fuad Masoum is one of its leading figures, and the Gorran movement.

The opposition parties are competing with the KDP for the region's presidency.

The KDP branch in Sulaimaniyah said the PUK had failed to protect its offices in the city during a string of protests that spread to most major towns in the south of the autonomous region, including Sulaimaniyah, in recent days.

The demonstrations were initially aimed at demanding payment of overdue salaries for civil servants but the political polarization pushed the demonstrations to develop into protests demanding Barzani, whose mandate expired on Aug. 20, to step down.

Several local KDP offices were set on fire by the protesters, while reports said that at least four protesters were killed and dozens wounded.
   Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
  12/10/15
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