But it was no real surprise, that just days after the statement was issued by the PUK and Change movement, the KDP announced its opposition to the idea. “We feel the agreement is an attempt to deepen conflicts,” a KDP statement said, noting that they felt the new political bloc had been formed as a dig at them.
The PUK-Change agreement says that the two parties prefer that the Iraqi Kurdish Parliament – the elected MPs - choose the region’s President. The KDP wants the president to be elected by the voters themselves. Before the Iraqi Kurdish Parliament was effectively shut down by this conflict, the powers of the President had already been trimmed.
“This [PUK-Change] agreement will further complicate the political problems the region has,” says Ahmed Kani, a senior member of the KDP. “The Change movement’s opinions come through loud and clear in the agreement and I don’t think the PUK will accept the conditions that they are setting.”
The Change movement wants to see Barzani removed from his current position; they say he is holding the seat of President illegally now.
Things became even more complicated when the attorney general in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan and well known as KDP territory, issued an arrest warrant for Nawshirwan Mustafa, the head of the Change movement, on charges of incitement to attack foreign embassies.
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