Kurds refuse to reconsider region-center relations

Sahwa councils could stir sedition, says key legislator ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: Kurdish politicians rejected the calls of Nouri al-Maliki to reconsider the relations of Kurdistan region and Iraqi provinces with the center, considering such calls “unconstitutional” and causing Maliki to lose his legitimacy as the prime minister of Iraq. Falah Mustafa, head of the foreign relations directorate in the Kurdistan regional cabinet, told IraqiNews.com “if we want to reinforce Iraq, then this should be achieved by strengthening regions and provinces, which is contrary to what al-Maliki is aiming for.” “Kurds agree with amending the Iraqi constitution, but according to the mechanism specified by the constitution itself, and provided that such amendments would contribute to expanding freedoms of race and religion, while preserving superiority of law,” he said. “The political experience of Iraq’s Kurdistan is an example of success for the federal system in Iraq,” he added. For his part, Lawmaker Nassih Abdulghafor of the Kurdistan Alliance parliamentary bloc told IraqiNews.com, “The Iraqi constitution was drafted within three years, which is a suitable period for drafting, and acquired consensus from all sides.” “80 percent of Iraqis voted on the constitution,” he said. “What al-Maliki currently demands is against the law and constitution,” he added. While legislature Khalid Shawani, a member of the Kurdistan Alliance, also echoed Abdulghafor’s tone in defending the constitution. “This constitution specifies the shape of Iraq’s ruling system, and was voted upon by around 12 million Iraqis,” Shawani told IraqiNews.com. “This is not the first time for al-Maliki to make such statements aimed at establishing a strong central government,” he said. “Over a period of around 80 years, and until 2003, Iraq was ruled through a central government, and many crimes and human rights violations were committed in all Iraq’s provinces during that era,” he explained. “After voting on the current constitution, we will not accept being ruled once again by such central governments,” he proceeded. “The state is now one of law and a constitution, and al-Maliki is mistaken if he thinks the state can be established by force,” he noted. MH (S)/SR   2