The political dispute continues in Nineveh Governorate, despite the formation of the local government there, and the start of a campaign to change department directors and heads of administrative units in its various districts, but Sinjar district and its surrounding areas have a great peculiarity, as they witnessed a major conflict between the forces controlling the fate of the governorate.
Exciting information is revealed about the division of the administration of the regions of Sinjar, Sinuni, Kairouan, Rabia, and Qahtaniya, between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Coordination Framework, and armed factions close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. While a Yazidi leader close to the framework did not deny this new equation, he counted the Democratic Party (excluded from the new division). This step is considered a “strike against the Sinjar Agreement,” hinting at accusing Iran of bringing together these parties, but the National Union denied its relationship with the Workers’ Party and confirmed its closeness to Yazidi factions “that have the same ideology.”
Sinjar District constitutes a point of contention between Baghdad and Erbil, as it is included in Article 140 of the Constitution and is not known as disputed areas. The previous government, headed by Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, had previously signed an agreement with the Erbil government called the “Sinjar Agreement,” which stipulates the expulsion of outlaw groups, in reference to The Kurdistan Workers’ Party and its associated factions, as well as a joint administration between the region and the federal government of the Yazidi-majority judiciary.
But the “Sinjar Agreement” did not see the light of day, due to the Popular Mobilization Forces’ and Yazidi factions’ rejection of it, until large demonstrations took place, declaring their refusal to implement the agreement. They also expressed their rejection of the return of the local government to Sinjar, since the local government, including the mayor, is linked to the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
An informed source said, during an interview with Al Aalem Al Jadeed, that “several meetings were held between the three parties, namely the coordination framework, the armed factions, and the Yazidi parties close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, for the purpose of naming new positions in the regions of Sinjar, Sinuni, Kairouan, Al-Qahtaniyah, and Rabia.”
The source adds, “The agreement stipulated the distribution of positions, such that a Yazidi figure linked to the Sinjar Protection Units affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party would receive the position of mayor of Sinjar, while a Yazidi figure affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan would receive the position of director of the Sununi district (north), while a Shiite figure linked to the framework would receive, The position of director of the Kairouan district will be from the Badr Movement or the State of Law coalition.
He continues, “The agreement also stipulates changing the position of the director of the Rabia district, and it will be part of the National Contract, led by Faleh Al-Fayyad, and a Sunni figure close to MP Abdul Rahim Al-Shammari will assume the position.”
Al Aalem Al Jadeed revealed in mid-April that the Nineveh Governorate Council will vote on appointing the heads of new administrative units for the districts of Makhmur, Shekhan, Bashiqa and Bartella districts, under management affiliated with the Coordination Framework, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Babylon, headed by Rayyan Al-Kaldani and representatives of the Yazidi Kuta and Shabak, amid the party’s exclusion. The Kurdistan Democratic Party was removed from important positions, as the director of Nineveh Health, who belongs to the Democratic Party, was dismissed. A vote will also be taken to dismiss the directors of agriculture and municipalities, and the mayor of Sinjar, Makhmour, and Sheikhan, all of whom belong to the Democratic Party.
According to the source, the number of members of the coordination framework in the Nineveh Council reached more than 18 members out of the group of 29 members of the Nineveh Governorate Council, after other members from other blocs joined the framework, especially the Babylon Alliance headed by Rayyan Al-Kildani.
Rayan Al-Kildani is considered one of the controversial figures within the Christian component, as he is the first to form an armed faction within the Popular Mobilization Forces that includes Christian fighters, which is rejected by the Chaldean Church in Iraq.
Regarding this matter, Fahd Hamed, a Yazidi politician close to the Sinjar Protection Units, explained during an interview with Al Aalem Al Jadeed that “change in the judiciary and its areas has become necessary.”
He points out that “it is unreasonable for a district the size of Sinjar, which has a large number of service and administrative problems, to be managed by a person whose place is outside the judiciary,” adding that “the results of the recent elections for the provincial councils produced a new reality, where the Kurdistan Workers’ Party no longer exists on the ground and did not get the votes of the Yazidis and the rest of the components of Sinjar, and therefore the new distribution of positions will be according to the points of each component and party.”
It is noteworthy that the Sinjar Protection Units are officially linked to the Popular Mobilization Forces, but were formed after the liberation of Sinjar district from the control of ISIS, and were formed at the time by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
The areas currently being shared are the majority of the components in Nineveh, whether the Yazidi component, the Christians, and the Shabak. Recently, the issue of expanding the city of Mosul, the center of the governorate, was raised, by annexing areas of the Nineveh Plain areas, which include a Christian majority.
In addition, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, through its member Rebin Salam, accuses “a neighboring country brought together the three parties because of its interests in Sinjar, since Sinjar is a border region overlooking Syria, and also for the purpose of excluding the Democratic Party from the equation, because it is the true representative of the people of Sinjar.”
Salam continues, during an interview with Al Aalem Al Jadeed, that “this agreement is a repetition of previous actions carried out by the National Union in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul, and even within the region, and it is no longer surprising that the actions it is undertaking for the purpose of its own interests, even if they conflict with the national interest of the Kurds.”
He continues, “This agreement strikes the Sinjar Agreement that was signed between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, and it also strikes democracy because the people of these areas voted for the Democratic Party in the previous elections,” adding that “those most affected are the residents of these areas, especially the Yazidis, as these parties The PMF factions and the Workers’ Party want to trade their cause and turn it into a battlefield.”
The Kurdistan National Union and Democratic Parties are experiencing a chronic conflict that has intensified during the last decade after former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi assumed the presidency of the government, during which he announced an “austerity policy.” As a result, the Kurdistan Regional Government adopted what it called at the time “compulsory saving” for employees’ salaries, and this policy was focused On Sulaymaniyah directly, which angered the National Union.
Then the differences reached their peak after the President of the region, Masoud Barzani, announced the referendum on the secession of the Kurdistan region from Iraq and the annexation of Kirkuk and the disputed areas to the region, in October 2017, which required the federal government to intervene militarily to regain control of Kirkuk and some of the disputed areas, and expel the Peshmerga forces from them. At the time, the Democrat accused his counterpart, the National Union, of being behind this, as he had refused to hold the referendum.
For his part, the media official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Nineveh, Ghiyath Sorgi, denied during an interview with Al Aalem Al Jadeed that there was an agreement to exclude any political party from the new equation in the governorate.
Sorgi asserts, “The Democratic Party was the first to enter into alliances in previous years and to ignore the Kurdish interest, and we will not allow them to trade and betray again,” adding that “the Democratic Party won 4 seats, and they want to remain in charge of 16 administrative units, and this is against logic and the law, and the distribution of administrative units and positions will be according to the points.”
He notes that “the National Union does not have any relationship with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, and our relationship is with the Yazidi parties and factions, which perhaps have the same thought and belief with the Workers’ Party, but the latter has no presence in Sinjar at all, and these are all rumors spread by the Democrat and its media for the purpose of inflaming the situation in the stable judiciary, and also for the purpose of obstructing the return of the displaced.”
