Thursday, 11 July, 2019 , 15:50
The new government of Kurdistan
The Kurdistan Parliament, meeting in Erbil on July 10, 2019, approved by a large majority the new government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Masrour Barzani.
In the vote of confidence, the Prime Minister won 88 votes out of 111. Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, who was already in the outgoing cabinet, won 73 votes.
The new government has three women: Ms. Begard Talabani, PUK, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources; Ms. Kwestan Mohammad, Goran, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs and Ms. Vala Fared, KDP, outgoing President of Parliament who becomes Minister of the Region. Ms Rewaz Fayak, PUK, will succeed her as Speaker of the Parliament, assisted by a Turkmen Vice-President Ms Muna Qahwachi.
The Christian and Turkmen minorities are each represented by a minister. Mr. Ano Jawhar Abdulmasih Abdoka, Christian, becomes Minister of Transport and Communications. The Turkmen minority, already represented by the Vice-President of Parliament, was also entitled to a ministry without portfolio.
The formation of the new government has been very laborious. In the elections of September 30, 2018, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) won 45 seats out of 111, its historical rival the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) 21 seats and the movement Goran (Change), resulting from a split PUK, 12 seats. 11 seats are reserved for Assyrian-Chaldean, Turkmen and Armenian minorities. The remaining 22 seats are shared by half a dozen other political parties, including the two Islamist movements Yekgirti (Unity) and Komal (Association) and a new party, Generation New.
As soon as the results were announced, the KDP announced its intention to form a coalition with PUK and Goran. Negotiations with Goran were fairly quickly completed, but those with the PUK of former President Jalal Talabani dragged on. This party, undermined by its internal divisions, has until the end sought a "package deal" with the KDP including not only the power sharing in Kurdistan but also the endorsement of the KDP to the nomination of a candidate of the UPK as governor of Kirkuk as well as his support for a PUK candidacy for the post of Iraqi Minister of Justice, a position reserved for a Kurd and not yet filled. This standoff continued until the election of Nechirvan Barzani as President of the Region at the end of May, whose Vice-President is from Goran.
The new Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, aged 50, was until now Chancellor of the Kurdish National Security Agency. He is a graduate of the American University of Washington. Polyglot, he speaks, besides Kurdish, Arabic, Persian and English.
In his statement to Parliament, he said that his government would give priority to improving public service, economic and administrative reforms, strengthening security and diversifying Kurdistan's resources. The fight against corruption will also be a priority as well as the settlement through dialogue of various disputes between Erbil and Baghdad.
