Chairwoman Sozan Shihab of the Kurdistani bloc in Parliament says posts in Parliament's presidency and other high posts will be swapped.
The chairwoman said the move hasn?t been officially discussed yet other than what she?s heard via media. Shihab heads Kurdistan Region Parliament?s governing bloc, comprised of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and a number of minor parties.
KDP and PUK are obliged to an agreement they signed in 2007 to shift high posts in middle of the four-year cycle; thus, the prime minister post is held for only two year by each party. The swap should occur by the end of this month.
"If these changes take place, they must go according to the strategic agreement between PUK and KDP," said Shihab, a PUK leader. "If there is any change inside the government, there must be the same inside Parliament."
PUK's Dr. Barham Salih's two-year round in the Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister post is nearing completion. When that post is delivered to KDP, the post of Parliament speaker, now held by KDP's Kamal Kirkuki, must go to a PUK candidate, explained Shihab. ?We don?t have problems with persons, but the system must work properly and be developed." She urged media to focus on the governing system's deficiencies.
The former KRG Cabinet, led by KDP, continued without swapping the PM post after a compromise from PUK leadership. Some PUK leaders asked for the same comprise from the KDP while showing their full obligation to the agreement between the parties.
PUK and KDP have yet to announce information on the issue, but a meeting this month is expected to put it to rest. Chairwoman Shihab stated that the Parliaments must amend problematic internal laws. She made the statement in defense of the Parliament speaker whom some accuse of unilaterally deciding on arranging and scheduling drafts to be proposed in the sessions.