Fights inside Kurd parliament over bid to extend Barzani’s presidency

Kurdistan Tribune – 1.7.2013 – UPDATE: Later today the KDP and PUK MPs carried a vote to extend President Barzani’s term by two years until July 2015.

Fights broke out inside the Kurdistan parliament today when the Speaker tried to introduce a motion – backed by the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) – to extend President Barzani’s term in office by two years. Masud Barzani was elected for a four-year term which expires in July. According to the law he must then stand down because he has served two terms and a fresh presidential election should be held. However, today’s motion reveals Barzani’s desire to stay in power and postpone the election.

As the Speaker tried to read the relevant paper there was uproar, with opposition MPs heckling and shouting “Fraud!” and “Illegal!”. There were fights between MPs from the ruling KDP and PUK and those from the opposition parties. The police arrived and they arrested one opposition MP,  Addulla Mulla Nori. He is a popular Gorran representative from Garmyan with a reputation for putting himself on the side of the poor. Opposition MPs say the police intervention was completely one-sided in support of the ruling parties. Gorran MP Koestan Mohammed told Sbeiy: “We are not keeping quiet and there will be a more tough response to this action”. To the pro-KDP Rudaw she added: “Our response will not be the normal”. Some observers have even raised the sceptre of a civil war, as happened in the 1990s, if the ruling parties were to succeed in keeping Barzani in power without a popular vote.