PUK Co-President Lahur Sheikh Jangi (File)
PM:11:12:25/08/2021
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SULAIMANI — The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK)
Politburo said in a statement on Tuesday (August 24) that party Co-President
Lahur Sheikh Jangi should leave the Kurdistan Region within three days and not
return until two weeks after the announcement of the results of Iraq’s
parliamentary elections, which are currently scheduled for October 10.
The order is the latest development in the power struggle
between Sheikh Jangi and his cousins, PUK Co-President Bafel Talabani and
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, which erupted into public view on July 8 when the Talabanis ousted members of Sheikh
Jangi’s camp from important positions in the party’s affiliated security
forces.
The effort to sideline him initially appeared to be
successful, with Sheikh Jangi saying he would temporarily step down from his
position while a new leadership structure was put in place.
But on August 2, he reversed his stance, vowing to resist
the attempt to remove him and not to leave the Region.
Sheikh Jangi had also been the head of the Kurdistan
Coalition, an electoral pact between the PUK and the Change Movement (Gorran),
but was replaced by Qubad Talabani.
Popular with the party’s grassroots, Sheikh Jangi’s
continued presence in the Kurdistan Region has impeded the Talabanis’ attempts to
solidify their control of the party and will likely prove a distraction during
the upcoming campaign.
In its statement, the Politburo called on Sheikh Jangi to
declare his support for the Kurdistan Coalition and the PUK.
It also said that all unofficial armed groups and crowds
should disperse by Wednesday, likely a reference to armed loyalists that have
been guarding Sheikh Jangi’s house in Sulaimani city for the past several
weeks.
Senior members of the PUK report that there has been no
progress towards mediating the dispute between the two camps.
In response to the Politburo’s statement, Sheikh Jangi’s
office said on Wednesday that his departure from the Kurdistan Region would
only be brokered through a meeting by the PUK’s General Leadership Council.
It is unlikely that such a meeting will take place in the
near future. PUK sources tell NRT that Sheikh Jangi retains enough support on
the Council to block it from taking such an action.
The Talabanis have relied on their supporters on the
less-powerful Politburo to try to provoke Sheikh Jangi into reacting.
(NRT Digital Media)