Kurdish MP accuses Maliki of failing to honor alliance demands of Kurds

Erbil, June 6 (AKnews) - A Kurdish deputy in the Iraqi parliament complained on Monday that the demands of the Kurds, preconditions to the alliance that assured Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office, have still not been met six months after the formation of the government.

MP Mahmoud Othman accused the government of failing to honor the prerequisite demands of the Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC), submitted to the feuding political blocs in September 2010.

"None of the 19 demands handed to Maliki have been implemented," Othman said, "…the most important of which are the application of article 140, the hydrocarbon law and the Peshmarga issue".

Article 140 outlines a three-stage process to resolving the disputes over areas contested by the Kurdistan Regional Government and the central government in Baghdad.

In addition, the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region and Baghdad have long been at odds over oil deals signed between the regional Government and foreign companies to develop and export oil from Iraqi-Kurdistan. Baghdad has declared the Kurdish contracts with foreign companies illegal as they were signed without the consent of federal authorities.

"We were expecting the demands we submitted to Maliki (all but one of which Maliki had approved) to be implemented…There should at least have been talks about the demands or the Iraqi government's plans to implement them," Osman said.

Othman's dissatisfaction with Maliki's government adds fuel to accusations from the al-Iraqiya List currently being aired that Maliki has so far failed to uphold the power-sharing agreements signed between the political blocs in December last year prior to the formation of the government.

Al-Iraqiya, led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, narrowly beat Maliki's State of Law Coalition in the March 2010 elections but Maliki controversially overcame Allawi's list by forming a super-bloc, the National Coalition (NC), with the Sadrist Current after the poll.

After a nine-month political impasse with both leaders refusing to relinquish claim to the country's leadership, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani stepped in with a model for a national unity government and a power-sharing deal.

Under the agreements signed in Erbil, Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani – a Kurd – were to retain their offices for a second term, while al-Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi, who secured a narrow majority of votes in the elections, would head a new executive body called the National Council for Strategic Policies (NCSP) as an attempt to maintain balance.

With the NCSP still un-formed six months after the Erbil accord was signed, the al-Iraqiya list has several times threatened to withdraw from the partnership government, accusing Maliki of monopolizing power and failing to implement all terms of the deal.

"The Iraqi government has not exerted serious efforts," Othman said, "…therefore the Kurdish government must follow up the issue and make sure they (the Kurdish demands) are implemented."

Written by Raber Y. Aziz - Rebin Hasan contributed to this story
 
 

06/06/2011 17:03