“The relations between the Iraqi Kurds and Shiites are age-old, and should be upheld and preserved at any time,” Mahmoud Othman, a former prominent member of the Iraqi parliament told the Tasnim News Agency on Sunday.
The veteran lawmaker also expressed regret at the faltering relations between Iraq’s central government and the Kurdistan region over the past year, and stressed, “The differences between two individuals or two politicians should not cast a shadow over the age-old ties between the Kurds and Shiites.”
Othman, a political ally of President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani, further called on the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to put an end to the rifts with the Kurdistan Region and “open a new page in dialog between Shiites and Kurds after the (parliamentary) elections.”
The Arab country’s parliamentary elections are slated for April 30. The polls will elect the 328 members of the Council of Representatives who will elect the Iraqi president and prime minister.
Meanwhile, campaigning has begun for the upcoming elections, with Prime Minister Maliki seeking a third consecutive term in office.