Kurdish blocs close to ending boycott of Iraqi parliament

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Most of the Kurdish blocs at the Iraqi parliament will return soon to resume the attendance of sessions, ending nearly to weeks of boycott over Iraq’s rejection of Kurdistan independence vote.

Arafat karam, head of Kurdistan’s ruling Democratic Party (KDP), said Sunday there have been attempts by the Kurdish parliamentarians to return to the assembly. He said taمks were ongoing talks to hash out a final stance regarding the return.

Karam said the presence of Kurdish representatives in the chamber was vital to “defend the rights of Kurdistan people”, adding that “Kurdistan region has not yet closed windows of dialogue with Baghdad”.

London-based The New Arab, however, quoted a KDP official saying that Kurdish President and party chief Masoud Barzani remains opposed to the return of his parliamentarians to Baghdad, adding that Barzani was in efforts to unite Kurdish political groups to back his stance.

Kurdish representatives suspended their participation in the Iraqi parliament on September 12th after a majority of the Arab-dominated assembly voted for annulling a referendum the autonomous region held to decide on independence from Iraq.

Kurdistan electoral commission said 92% of voters had backed independence during the polls held on September 25th.

Baghdad rejects the vote as unconstitutional, and has reiterated it was not going to refer to its results as basis for future negotiations over disputed matters with Erbil.

Baghdad and Erbil have disputed sovereignty over a number of provinces and the distribution of oil revenues from oil fields falling within Kurdistan.