ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amending the leadership rules was a focus for the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) during its party congress held this weekend, according to Sherko Jawdat, a leadership council member of the party.
Under the old rules, the general secretary could only serve two terms, but this bylaw has been amended.
“The most important change in the rules of procedure relates to the post of secretary general. We are convinced that just as a member of the leadership has the right to run several times… the secretary general must be able to run several times,” Jawdat told Rudaw on Saturday.
Salahaddin Bahaddin has been the leader of the party since its inception, apart from a short period from 2014 to 2018 when he stepped down from the position. He was re-elected secretary general during the congress on Friday.
Bahaddin had widespread support within the party, Mohammad Rauf, another member of KIU’s leadership council, said before the congress.
“Since they have amended the article, which allows two terms for the Secretary... this tells us that around 90 to 95 percent of [party members] aim for Mr Salahaddin to become the leader one more time, which is why until now I have not heard any other names being suggested,” he told Rudaw on Wednesday.
Other changes approved by the congress are increasing "the authority of the bodies, the leadership council and the high council of monitoring and follow-up,” said Jawdat.
The leadership council has been divided into four districts: Sulaimani-Halabja, Duhok-Nineveh, Erbil, and Kirkuk. The number of representatives from each district depends “on the number of members and supporters of the KIU in the districts, so that the leadership council can be truly representative," he explained.
According to Jawdat, the party's leadership council must meet within 10 days to elect members to the political bureau.
The KIU won seven seats in the parliamentary elections held on October 20 and announced that it would not participate in the formation of the government, but would remain in opposition.
“The new leadership can change that decision, but we insist on the decision made by the previous leadership,” Jawdat said.
Outside of internal party rules, the congress decided to focus on education as well as strengthening ties with regional countries, according to Jawdat.
KIU was founded in 1994 during the chaos of the Kurdish civil war and stood in opposition to the established Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). It is linked to the global Muslim Brotherhood movement and is largely considered its Kurdish franchise.
This is the ninth congress held by the party since their establishment.
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