Thursday, August 30, 2007
Barzani calls for implementation of Article 140
Politics
(Kurdish Globe) - Heightened anxiety among Iraqi groups and neighboring countries is due to fear that the execution of Article 140 will empower the Kurdistan government and inch it closer to declaring independence. Kurdish political leaders have once again insisted upon the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution as a condition for remaining in the Nouri al-Maliki's government.
According to Qadir Aziz, the representative of Massoud Barzani, President of Kurdistan Iraqi Region, in the four-sided agreement between the Kurds and the Shiite, the primary condition for the Kurds to remain in the al-Maliki government is the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk and the surrounding areas.
The city of Kirkuk and the surrounding areas are rich with oil and comprise a mixed ethnicity of Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, and Chaldeo-Assyrians; the situation of these regions can be rectified by Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution. In this constitutional article, it mentions that it's necessary to apply three stages for the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk and the surrounding areas. And toward the end of 2007, the people should have the right to vote in a referendum on the decision whether to remain with Baghdad or be annexed to Kurdistan Region.
After the withdrawal of the ministers who were members of the Sunni Accordance Front from the al-Maliki government, the security climate in the country worsened. Consequently, a number of factions signed an agreement for the purpose of resolving this chaos. This agreement comprises 27 points, and is between the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Dawa Party, and the Islamic Revolutionary Council in Iraq.
According to Qadir Aziz, the representative of Massoud Barzani, President of Kurdistan Iraqi Region, in the four-sided agreement between the Kurds and the Shiite, the primary condition for the Kurds to remain in the al-Maliki government is the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk and the surrounding areas.
The city of Kirkuk and the surrounding areas are rich with oil and comprise a mixed ethnicity of Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, and Chaldeo-Assyrians; the situation of these regions can be rectified by Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution. In this constitutional article, it mentions that it's necessary to apply three stages for the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk and the surrounding areas. And toward the end of 2007, the people should have the right to vote in a referendum on the decision whether to remain with Baghdad or be annexed to Kurdistan Region.
After the withdrawal of the ministers who were members of the Sunni Accordance Front from the al-Maliki government, the security climate in the country worsened. Consequently, a number of factions signed an agreement for the purpose of resolving this chaos. This agreement comprises 27 points, and is between the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Dawa Party, and the Islamic Revolutionary Council in Iraq.
COMMENT: This puts Maliki in a tricky position, particularly now, when he can ill afford to lose the little backing he has which would likely lead to the toppling of his government. However, Barzani has insisted on the implmentation of Article 140 on several occasions. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Article 140, Kirkuk, Massoud Barzani, Qadir Aziz
