The visit of the White House coordinator for Middle East and North Africa affairs, Brett McGurk, to Iraq’s Kurdistan region has not stopped the mounting escalation between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
The widening chasm between the two main parties in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq raises fears of an armed showdown, as no party is showing itself willing to make any concessions.
According to Kurdish officials, the Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union maintain two military units whose numbers range between 100,000 and 120,000.
American and European efforts have failed to unify these units which are said to be on alert for any dramatic development stemming from the lingering political disputes.
Writer and political analyst, Kamal Raouf, told The Arab Weekly, “The current situation in the Kurdistan region contains great dangers.”
He added, “We may be heading towards a total split, considering the exchange of serious accusations between the two main parties”. He noted that the Kurdistan Regional Government is now divided, with each side accusing the other of seizing control of vital financial resources and key government positions.
Raouf pointed out that the two side ignored warnings by the US-led international coalition against ISIS, that their unity is crucial in the fight to prevent the resurgence of the extremist group.
Disagreements between the two sides go back to last year, when each camp wanted to nominate Iraq’s new president. At the time, the PUK referred to a tacit agreement that it be allowed to pick the head of state, while Democratic Party believed the results of the last legislative elections entitled it to claim the presidency role.
The dispute between the two parties continued until a settlement was reached with the Coordination Framework which gave the Patriotic Union the right to claim the presidential position. Many in Iraqi Kurdistan hoped that the end of the presidential stand-off would lead to an improvement in relations between the two sides. But the situation soon exploded again, especially after the car bomb assassination last October in the capital Erbil of intelligence officer, Colonel Hawkar Jaff.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) , a high-level national security body in the Kurdistan region, said the PUK-supervised Counter Terrorism Group (CTG) was behind the “terrorist attack” which killed the officer. The PUK denied any involvement.
In order to increase pressure on its rival, the Patriotic Union announced the boycott of the activities of the Masrour Barzani’s government. The party led by Pafel Talabani did not stop at that, but went as far as to threaten the government with the secession of Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, Karmian and Rabin from the region.
Regional experts say the differences between the two parties are not only the result of developments that occurred during the last two years, but go back to the seventies and nineties of the last century when disputes led to armed confrontations between them.
The experts believe the eruption of armed hostilities has become a distinct possibility, as leaders from both camps are dangerously stoking the fires.
The Kurdistan Regional Presidency put out a statement warning of the risks involved, calling on all parties and political forces to close ranks so as to overcome the crisis.
Al-Hajj Musaifi, a member of the leadership council of the Patriotic Union, said that the current situation may lead to the total withdrawal of the PUK ministerial team from the regional government and the PUK will not limit itself to just a boycott.
He told The Arab Weekly that “the Democratic Party seeks to weaken the Patriotic Union,” and that the PUK was committed to “ending the monopoly of power by any political party.”
During his meeting with McGurk, Masoud Barzani is said to have raised the issue of the disagreement between the KDP and the PUK over next legislative elections in the region, saying he opposed the postponement of the ballot under any conditions.
Analysts explain that Barzani rejects the PUK’s position, which makes elections conditional on amending the electoral law, updating voter records and bringing back the Supreme Authority for Elections.
They add that the insistence of the Democratic Party on keeping current election procedures without meeting the demands of the Patriotic Union, may eventually lead to the PUK not only boycotting the electoral process, but also withdrawing from the regional government.
Such a development could lead to dangerous split heralding the partition of the region.
source: thearabweekly