Kurdistan People for Sit-ins if Article 140 Not Implemented , Kirkuki Says

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: Speaker of Kurdistan Parliament warned today that the people of Kirkuk and the Kurdish region will initiate sit-ins to implement Article 140 of the constitution and make a popular consensus on the fate of Kirkuk province.  In a special interview with IraqiNews.com, Speaker Kamal Karkuki demanded that the election commission should complete its preparations for convening the provincial elections in the region due in next October.  “The sit-ins shall be similar to those in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen to oblige the other party to make the consensus on the fate of the province,” he added.   “The road map to solve this problem is Article 140. We will accept no bargaining in this regard”, he confirmed.  Article 140 is one of the main pending question between the federal government and the Kurdish region, which implementation arouse great arguments all past years.  The article deals with the question in three stages: normalization, census and consensus for this oil-rich province.   On the provincial election on 10 October, 2011, he added that it was agreed to make the election in the three provinces of Arbil, Sulaimaniyah and Duhuk at scheduled time.  On the US troops withdrawal, he advised that “all should think properly away from sentiments to select the best way for Iraq. If Iraq needs these forces, let them stay, otherwise they will leave”.  He rejected the accusations that the Kurdish parliament has no ability to solve problems, accusing Kurdish media to defame the fame of the parliament.   “Despite the opposition in the parliament, we are satisfied with its work, because all are dealing in a brotherly way and the laws are passed on the majority basis, which is, by itself, a democracy”, he added.  He concluded that “the parliament is a political and civilization conflict arena, where each member represents a party, but there is no violence.”  The opposition in the Kurdish parliament occupies 35 seats out of 111 controlled by the main Kurdish parties, headed by Jalal Talabani and Masoud Barzani.   RM (TI) 1437