President Masoud Barzani delivered a letter to the Kurdistan
parliament and then appeared on TV for the first time since the September 2017
referendum to announce that he would step down from office. His followers
immediately took to the streets and assaulted members of the press and
political parties, burning down offices, as well as storming the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG) parliament building.
Barzani said he would step down from the presidency and
defended the referendum, while saying he would remain in politics. First, a statement
he wrote was read in parliament. It said he would not seek another term as
president and that his powers would be distributed amongst the prime minister,
the parliament and judiciary. There was some confusion about just when he would
leave office. Some reports had him stepping down in a few days in November,
while others had him remaining until the next elections were held. The problem
with that is the KRG Election Commission recently delayed
the next vote for eight months. Barzani then gave a speech on TV, marking his
first public appearance since the September 2017 independence referendum. He
repeated his argument for that decision claiming that Baghdad had failed at
sharing power and that the referendum was the only solution to the Kurds’
problems. He stated that the vote was agreed upon by all the political parties
in the KRG, which was not true, and then called the surrender of Kirkuk to
federal forces an act of “treachery.” What Barzani’s announcement boiled down
to was him giving up the presidency at an indeterminate date, while attacking
his opponents. He will still be the head of the KDP and the new Supreme
Political Council, which was created by the KDP and PUK after the referendum
over the complaints of the opposition. There is no law regulating this body,
and no outline of its powers and duties. It appears to be another way for the
KDP and PUK to run the region since Barzani dismissed the regional parliament
back in 2015, and today only meets when the KDP calls it into session to rubber
stamp a decision that has already been made.
Barzani’s statements incited his followers in Irbil, Zakho
and Dohuk to attack opposition politicians, storm the parliament building, and go
after the media and political offices. First, parliamentarian Rabum Maruf of
Change was attacked
while he was giving a speech to reporters outside parliament. A mob then stormed
the legislative building and attacked members of the media outside. MPs from Change
and a NRT TV team were assaulted.
PUK and Change offices along with Radio Ashti’s building were set on fire in Zakho,
while the crowds chanted pro-Barzani slogans. The security forces stopped an
assault upon the NRT offices in Dohuk. At the end of the day the KRG called
on the security forces to maintain order and rejected violence and vandalism. The
KDP supporters took Barzani’s actions as a call to violence. They didn’t seem
to care that Barzani’s term as president expired two years ago, and that he
didn’t even say when he would step down. They just blamed his opponents, and
then went after them. It wasn’t until hours later that the KRG called for calm,
allowing the mobs to run wild. Kurdistan has always been run by families and
tribes rather than laws and institutions. The crisis that has followed the
referendum, has reinforced that tradition
SOURCES
Al Alam, “Witnesses: unknown assailants break into the Kurdistan
parliament and besiege its deputies,” 10/29/17
Associated Press, “Iraqi Kurdish leader to devolve powers after thorny
vote,” 10/29/17
Baghdad Post, “Kurdish Parliament nominates Nechirvan Barzani as
Commander-in-Chief,” 10/29/17
Bas News, “Barzani: I Will Remain a Peshmerga for Kurdistan,” 10/29/17
Iraq News Network, “Parliamentary source: differences between the Kurdish
parties on the distribution of Barzani’s powers,” 10/29/17
Al Mada, “Barzani rejects extension: I will leave my post early next
month,” 10/30/17
Al Mirbad, “Kurdistan government calls for security forces to control the
situation in the province,” 10/30/17
- “The speaker of the Kurdistan parliament expressed regret that groups
of thugs attacked the parliament building,” 10/29/17
NINA, “Urgent..Supporters of Barzani break into the headquarters of the
Parliament of Kurdistan and abuse the MPs of the Change Block and cadres of
satellite channels,” 10/29/17
NRT, “Security Forces Prevent Group From Attacking NRT Office In Dohuk,”
10/29/17
Al Sumaria, “Burning the headquarters of the Change Movement, Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan and Radio Ashti in Zakho,” 10/29/17
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