Head of the Kurdistan Islamic Union’s (KIU) grouping on the Duhok Provincial Council Sabah Bapiri said on Wednesday that the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has made permanent its control over leadership positions in two directorates that were previously held by the KIU before it withdrew from the local government in September.
Earlier in the day, the provincial council voted to approve KDP members as the heads of the Duhok General Mines Action and the Road and Construction directorates.
The three KIU members on the council abstained from the vote, Bapir said.
He added that the necessary legal procedures to approve the KDP members had not been followed, explaining that under the law five candidates should be put forward for each post. The provincial council then picks three for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Council of Ministers to consider and select a final choice.
“The law was not followed. There was only one candidate,” Bapir said, citing Kurdistan Region Provincial Council Law Number 3 of 2009.
Head of Duhok Provincial Council Fahim Abdulla, who is from the KDP, said that the two posts had been filled by acting directors since the KIU withdrew from the local government because of a political dispute in September.
At the time, the local security forces were cracking down on protests over the KRG’s decisions to delay and cut public sector salaries.
KIU lawmakers in the Kurdistan Parliament signed onto a letter along with other opposition parties calling on KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to appear in Parliament to answer questions from MPs about the issue, which led to a rupture with the KDP and a dissolution of a local powersharing agreement between the two.
Earlier in the day, the provincial council voted to approve KDP members as the heads of the Duhok General Mines Action and the Road and Construction directorates.
The three KIU members on the council abstained from the vote, Bapir said.
He added that the necessary legal procedures to approve the KDP members had not been followed, explaining that under the law five candidates should be put forward for each post. The provincial council then picks three for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Council of Ministers to consider and select a final choice.
“The law was not followed. There was only one candidate,” Bapir said, citing Kurdistan Region Provincial Council Law Number 3 of 2009.
Head of Duhok Provincial Council Fahim Abdulla, who is from the KDP, said that the two posts had been filled by acting directors since the KIU withdrew from the local government because of a political dispute in September.
At the time, the local security forces were cracking down on protests over the KRG’s decisions to delay and cut public sector salaries.
KIU lawmakers in the Kurdistan Parliament signed onto a letter along with other opposition parties calling on KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to appear in Parliament to answer questions from MPs about the issue, which led to a rupture with the KDP and a dissolution of a local powersharing agreement between the two.
