Published by Ekurd 18 May 2016
in Politics
SULAIMANI, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— The head of the Change Movement (Gorran), Nawshirwan Mustafa, said on Tuesday the bilateral agreement reached with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) will lead to greater democracy in Iraqi Kurdistan region and increased transparency in oil and gas revenues.
Gorran and the PUK finalized a bilateral agreement between their parties in a signing ceremony on Tuesday at former Iraqi President and PUK Secretary-General Jalal Talabani’s residence in Dabashan, Sulaimani.
Mustafa said the agreement is a response to the political, economic and security challenges facing the Kurdistan Region.
The agreement is expected to bring more transparency to the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil and to improve the livelihood of residents of the Kurdistan Region, the Gorran leader said during the signing ceremony.
“The Kurdistan Region is facing serious economic and political challenges and a war,” Mustafa said. “This agreement is a response to those challenges.” He added the deal is the result of “parliamentarian efforts” and a “civil consensus.”
Mustafa and the PUK’s First Deputy Secretary-General Kosrat Rasul signed the agreement after weeks of meetings between representatives.
The deal was signed after several articles of the agreement were amended following a consensus among senior members of both parties.
Gorran and the PUK on May 14 both approved the agreement resolution, which seeks to develop relations between the two parties.
An article of the agreement says, “Both sides agree to create a coalition for their factions in the Kurdistan Parliament, Iraqi Council of Representatives and Provincial Councils and this coalition will be open for others to join according to special protocol.”
Another article says, “Both sides agree on the political and legal obstacles in front of legislative institutions and reactivation of Parliament based on the rule of law, with no preconditions.”
Both parties in the agreement additionally expressed a willingness to nationalize government institutions, especially the Peshmerga Ministry, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education.
Other points of the agreement included economic reform, particularly in the oil and gas sector, and relations with other states, as well as the central Iraqi government.
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