Talabani was elected President of Iraq in 2005, the first non-Arab to take the presidency in IraqSeptember 17, 2010
Iraq’s new president does not have to be a Kurd: Talabani Iraq’s president pushes for Kirkuk referendum
DUBAI (Al Arabiya)
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the country’s Kurdish minority will not demand to retain the presidency post after he leaves, but Kurds won't cease their demand of the northern city of Kikuk to be part of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
There is no constitutional requirement that the president should be Kurdish, Talabani said in comments aired by Al Arabiya television late on Friday. “We can negotiate the possibility that the position of president may not be taken by the Kurds.”
Talabani told to Al Arabiya’s TV’s program “Who will rule Iraq” that any violation of the Kurdish demand to Kirkuk is considered a breach of Iraq’s constitution, which more than 12 million Iraqis voted for during Iraq’s last March 7 election.
Future Kurdish alliance with any Iraqi political party will depend on this constitutional ‘right,’ he said, adding that the Kurds make the majority population in Kirkuk among other Iraqi ethnic groups from Arabs, Turkmens and others.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution calls for a census and a referendum among the population on Kirkuk and other disputed territories to decide whether to join Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi resumed negations on August aimed at forming a new government without much progress after six months from the elections.
March 7 produced no outright winner, Allawi’s Sunni-backed Iraqiya list won 91 seats while 89 seats went to al-Maliki’s Shiite-led State of Law block.
The Kurds are the fourth-largest bloc behind former Prime Minister Ayad Allawis Iraqiyah, Prime Minister Nuri al- Malikis State of Law and the Shiite Iraqi National Alliance.
Iraqi leaders are now competing for alliances with other political parties to increase their weight and collect more parliamentary seats and win the majority needed to form a new government.
In August Allawi held talks with the Sadrists movement in an attempt to break the political stalemate. Last week, Vice President and the National Alliance’s nomine, Adel Abdul Mehdi met with the the Kurdish region’s head, Massoud Barazni in an attempt to win support for his nomination to be the next prime minister in Iraq.
Iraq exports 58.7 million oil barrels in May, almost quarter of it came from Kirkuk.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/09/17/119531.html
Iraq’s new president does not have to be a Kurd: Talabani Iraq’s president pushes for Kirkuk referendum
DUBAI (Al Arabiya)
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the country’s Kurdish minority will not demand to retain the presidency post after he leaves, but Kurds won't cease their demand of the northern city of Kikuk to be part of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
There is no constitutional requirement that the president should be Kurdish, Talabani said in comments aired by Al Arabiya television late on Friday. “We can negotiate the possibility that the position of president may not be taken by the Kurds.”
Talabani told to Al Arabiya’s TV’s program “Who will rule Iraq” that any violation of the Kurdish demand to Kirkuk is considered a breach of Iraq’s constitution, which more than 12 million Iraqis voted for during Iraq’s last March 7 election.
Future Kurdish alliance with any Iraqi political party will depend on this constitutional ‘right,’ he said, adding that the Kurds make the majority population in Kirkuk among other Iraqi ethnic groups from Arabs, Turkmens and others.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution calls for a census and a referendum among the population on Kirkuk and other disputed territories to decide whether to join Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi resumed negations on August aimed at forming a new government without much progress after six months from the elections.
March 7 produced no outright winner, Allawi’s Sunni-backed Iraqiya list won 91 seats while 89 seats went to al-Maliki’s Shiite-led State of Law block.
The Kurds are the fourth-largest bloc behind former Prime Minister Ayad Allawis Iraqiyah, Prime Minister Nuri al- Malikis State of Law and the Shiite Iraqi National Alliance.
Iraqi leaders are now competing for alliances with other political parties to increase their weight and collect more parliamentary seats and win the majority needed to form a new government.
In August Allawi held talks with the Sadrists movement in an attempt to break the political stalemate. Last week, Vice President and the National Alliance’s nomine, Adel Abdul Mehdi met with the the Kurdish region’s head, Massoud Barazni in an attempt to win support for his nomination to be the next prime minister in Iraq.
Iraq exports 58.7 million oil barrels in May, almost quarter of it came from Kirkuk.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/09/17/119531.html
