Kurdish observers optimistic over forming “strong govt. in region”

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: Kurdish political observers said they were optimistic over the possibility of forming a “strong government” in the Iraqi Kurdistan region one day after the region’s president, Massoud Barazani, designated Burham Saleh, a leading member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), to make a lineup of a new government. “The official designation by the region president to the Kurdistan List candidate Burham Saleh to form a government, though a bit late, indicates insistence on the part of the Kurdish leadership to on seeking success through contacts with all parties,” said Bashar Hameed Mahmoud al-Kiki in statements to Iraqi News. Barazani had officially entrusted on Wednesday (Sept. 30) Saleh and his deputy Azad Birwari, both belong to the main two Kurdish parties – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s PUK and Barazani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) respectively – to set up a new cabinet The assignment was expressed during a meeting held in the resort of Salah Al-Din in Arbil, more than two months after the semi-autonomous region’s presidential and parliamentary elections on July 25, in which the Kurdistan List, which comprises the PUK and KDP, won 59 out of a total of 111 seats, enabling it to form the government alone. Kiki expressed support for forming a “strategic alliance government between the two main Kurdish parties, but not a national unity one,” noting the two parties would capable of delivering on their election platform pledges and achieve the region’s interests better if they formed a strategic alliance government. Working for years in the media field, Kiki pointed out that the Kurdistan leaders should not delay the formation of a government because they have to get prepared for the Iraqi parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place in mid-January 2010. “These elections acquire a special importance and require unified Kurdish efforts and discourse so as to maintain balances inside Iraq and guarantee that Kurds would be represented ad the second largest power in Baghdad,” he added. Kurds are currently holding 58 seats inside the Iraqi parliament, 53 of them are reserved for the Kurdistan Alliance (KA) bloc while five others are occupied by the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) bloc, out of a total of 275 seats, next only to the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA). Political essayist Abdullah Mashkhati referred to “the Kurdish street’s concerns regarding the delayed formation of a government in the Kurdistan region despite accordance reached over all general bases”. Mashkhati was also optimistic about the possibility a “good government is formed provided that the two main parties have the will by relying on efficient figures and dignitaries known for their integrity, fairness and experience”. He called for brushing aside any partisan loyalty when selecting the members of the new cabinet. He said that there is a pressing need that the government would “focus on the economic aspect and improve infrastructure and that the region’s economy should not depend only on the oil money coming from Baghdad and trade”. “We have to re-build the sectors of tourism, agriculture and animal wealth and optimize them to have them as a source of power for the Kurdish economy,” Mashkhati stressed. AmR (I) 3