Leader Barzani rejects Kirkuk governorship rotation as PUK pushes ahead

Shafaq News- Erbil

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader, Masoud Barzani, said Thursday he would not accept the “manipulation” of Kirkuk voters' will through "suspicious Rashid Hotel deals."

His remarks came as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) confirmed it would participate in a provincial council session to implement a two-year-old power-sharing agreement set to hand the governorship to a Turkmen figure -the first time a non-Kurdish official would hold the post. PUK spokesman Karwan Gaznei said in a statement that the rotation was the result of a prior agreement and represented "a normal democratic process," adding that "no position is a political inheritance."

A provincial council member told Shafaq News the governor's resignation had been submitted in writing from the outset as part of the political deal, while Governor Rebwar Taha's media office insisted he remained in post and had submitted no resignation letter to the council.

The dispute traces back to August 2024, when more than half the provincial council elected Taha as governor at a session in Baghdad's Rashid Hotel -boycotted by the KDP, Turkmens, and several Arab members- leaving the administration disputed from day one.