Kurdish criticism of al-Zaydi’s government program: It does not include solutions to the Kurds’ constitutional issues.
Kurdish criticism of al-Zaydi’s government program: It does not include solutions to the Kurds’ constitutional issues.
2026-05-09
Shafaq News – Sulaymaniyah
On Saturday, Fahmi Burhan, head of the Kurdistan Regions Authority outside the Kurdistan Region Administration, criticized the government program of the Iraqi Prime Minister-designate, Ali al-Zaidi, considering that it lacked any real treatment of the constitutional issues related to the people of Kurdistan, especially the issue of Article 140 and the disputed areas.
Burhan told Shafaq News Agency that “the government program for the next four years presented by Al-Zaidi, which consists of 14 axes, did not allocate any space to address the constitutional issues specific to the people of Kurdistan.”
He added: “It is true that the Kurdish ranks are not completely unified, but we believe that this was one of the main reasons behind ignoring Article 140 of the Constitution, as well as neglecting our legitimate rights and demands.”
Burhan pointed out that “these developments come despite the fact that the Kurdish political forces and parties did not express any objection to the nomination of Ali al-Zaidi, but rather, according to him, they rushed to send messages of support and congratulations to him before the rest of the other political parties.”
He stressed that “all political forces in Kurdistan are required to realize that this program represents a roadmap for the next four years, and it constitutes the basic document for the new Iraqi government to deal with the Kurdish leadership and the Kurdistan Regional Government.”
The head of the commission stressed the need for “the Kurdish forces to overcome this stage by unifying positions on issues of land, rights and gains of the Kurdish people, and working to convey this message jointly to Baghdad.”
He continued, saying: “Despite our support for the formation of Ali al-Zaidi’s government within the constitutional framework, we will not accept anything less than what is stated in Article 140 of the Constitution, and we will not give up the legitimate rights of our people, especially in the disputed areas.”
Burhan concluded his statement by saying, “The responsibility of the Kurdish representatives begins when this program reaches Parliament,” calling on them to “protect Kurdish rights and gains within the framework of what the Constitution has approved.”
Last Thursday, Prime Minister-designate Ali Faleh al-Zaidi presented the ministerial program for the new government to Speaker of Parliament Hebat Hamad al-Halbousi, in preparation for circulating it to members of Parliament for their review, with the names of the government formation to be submitted later.
The ministerial program included 14 paragraphs covering strengthening state sovereignty and national security, foreign policy, economic and financial reform, energy, industry, agriculture and water, governance, institutional reform and combating corruption, education, health and medical services, social protection networks and combating poverty, communications and information technology, human rights, women and children, youth and sports, culture, tourism and antiquities.
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