President Barzani: federal government should open channels with the Sadrist movement

Shafaq News/ The new government of Iraq should proceed with a new round of talks with the Sadrist movement, the President of the Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, said in a speech he delivered before the party's 14th congress in Duhok on Thursday.

Earlier today, more than 800 members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party reelected Masoud Barzani as the party's president, with Kurdistan's President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani elected as his first and second deputies, respectively.

The 14th KDP congress commenced in the city of Duhok, and is set to continue for the next two days. It is the first time the KDP has held a congress since December 2010, the longest the party has ever gone without holding the meeting.

"Since its foundation, the Kurdistan Democratic Party has been a major force in the political and democratic movement in Iraq," he said.

Addressing the Iraqi government and political forces, President Barzani said that "a new dialogue with the Sadrist movement should be adopted" in order to resolve the situation in the country.

The KDP first vice-president said that Mohammad Shiya al-Sudani's cabinet should work to create "more and better" job opportunities in southern and Mid-Iraq, assist the private sector, rebuild the war-ravaged Sunni territories, normalize the situation in Sinjar and Kirkuk, implement Article 140 of Iraq's constitution, and put an end to violating the rights and powers of the Kurdistan region. The KDP is the Kurdistan Region's largest party, holding 45 seats in the Region’s parliament, and top government positions, including the president, prime minister, and deputy parliament speaker.

The party also has the largest parliamentary bloc of the Kurdish component in the Iraqi parliament with 31 seats. It currently holds the post of Iraq’s foreign minister in PM Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s cabinet, and is expected to get at least one more ministry in the upcoming weeks.

KDP bylaws state that a congress should be held once every four years - though this interval has not once been adhered to since the party's foundation.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, KDP officials said a congress would be held by the end of 2020, but the plans were put on hold due to the global pandemic.