Removing Public Problems More Important than Referendum: Iraqi Kurdish Figure
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iraqi Kurdish politician believes that the planned referendum in the region is a move to conceal exciting crises, underlining that public demands are focused on the removal of problems.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Fayaq Gulpi, a former member of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Parliament, said that people in the Kurdish Region are now facing with political, economic and social problems.
“Grounds are not ready for holding referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region,” he noted, adding that from public point of view, removing problems should be a top priority and is much important than referendum.
People are blaming the Kurdistan Democratic Party - a party which enjoys majority in the regional parliament and administration - for the problems, he said.
Gulpi pointed to the potential results of referendum and said, “KDP will be responsible for the consequences of referendum.”
“The Iraqi Kurdistan Region political parties do not have consensus on holding referendum,” he said, underling the opposition of federal government of Iraq with the idea and its key role.
Elaborating the preparations needed for holding referendum, Gulpi said that the statues of fault lines and disputed areas have not been determined.
The comments came after officials in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region announced that the northern territory will hold an independence referendum on September 25.
Masoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), announced the vote on Twitter on Wednesday.
The referendum on whether to secede from Iraq is planned to be held in the three governorates that make up the Kurdish region and in the areas that are disputed by the Kurdish and Iraqi governments but are currently under Kurdish military control.
The disputed areas include the key oil-rich province of Kirkuk.
