The three Arab and Turkmen parties believe that the current situation in the multi-ethnic, oil-rich Kirkuk is not in the interest of the province. They once again consider the election process of the governor and the speaker of the Kirkuk provincial council illegal.
The three parties, the Kirkuk Arab Coalition, the Sovereignty Coalition and the Iraqi Turkmen Front ITF, which together have five members of the provincial council, announced their new position on the formation of the Kirkuk local government at a press conference Sunday.
"After the formation of the local government in Kirkuk in an illegal meeting and the exclusion of the Turkmen faction and some winning parties, Kirkuk province is in an unstable situation that has affected social coexistence in the province," the statement said.
Therefore, they call on the prime minister and all political factions to be vigilant and "not allow Kirkuk to return to the time when it was out of the federal security gap.”
The three parties filed a lawsuit against the formation of the Kirkuk local government, which was formed in August 2024 at the Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, and their case has not yet been resolved.
They called the formation of the government "illegal" because some parties formed the government without referring to the electoral law, which states that the Kirkuk local government must be with the participation of all communities.
"The Iraqi Administrative Court should resolve the case in accordance with the constitution and law, ensure the rights of the winning communities and lists and end the chain of marginalization of the winning factions," the statement said.
The Iraqi Administrative Court should decide the case in accordance with the constitution and law.
"Since 2003, experience has proven that no local government can succeed and administrative and political stability cannot be restored without the genuine participation of all parties," the statement said.
"The members of the Arab councils who attended the meeting at the Rashid Hotel in a statement before the meeting called the meeting illegal, after an hour of promising not to attend, but later attended the meeting," said Rakan Saeed Al-Jiburi, head of the the Kirkuk Arab Coalition.
Nine members of the council out of 16 members participated in the meeting and elected the speaker and governor of Kirkuk, including five members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK faction, two members of the leadership coalition, a member of the Ouruba coalition and the only quota seat for the Christian community.
Seven members of the council have since boycotted the meetings, including two Turkmen members, two members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and three Arab members of the Kirkuk Sovereignty and Arab Coalition.
"The Arab members who attended the council meeting are now in their weakest position in the provincial council, due to the lack of the necessary number to participate in decisions," Al-Jiburi added.
*This story has been produced as part of the "Budget is your Right" project funded by the National Democracy Institute (NDI).
