KDP Ends Boycott and Returns to Kirkuk Provincial Council Sessions

ARK News.. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) bloc in the Kirkuk Provincial Council announced on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, during a press conference, that it had ended its boycott and would officially resume participation in the council's sessions and meetings.

Speaking at the conference, Shokhan Haseeb, a member of the KDP bloc in the Kirkuk Provincial Council, said: “Our return to the council sessions comes in response to the demands of citizens and all political blocs within the council, because the KDP plays an oversight role and citizens regard it as their genuine representative.”

Haseeb added that Iraq is undergoing a pivotal phase of transformation in public oversight and anti-corruption strategy. She stated that, in support of this new reality and the steps taken by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, the bloc had decided to return to attending council sessions.

The bloc outlined two main reasons behind the decision. The first was responding to the continued calls from citizens and party supporters for representation within the council. The second was political solidarity and responsibility, particularly after all political parties within the council extended an official invitation to the KDP leadership to work jointly during what it described as a sensitive period.

Haseeb said that, following a careful and comprehensive review, the KDP leadership had made the final decision to participate in the meetings while continuing to exercise a firm oversight role aimed at protecting rights, combating corruption, and serving all components of Kirkuk without discrimination.

The dispute dates back to the aftermath of the Iraqi provincial council elections held in late 2023, when the formation of Kirkuk's local government became a source of sharp disagreement among the province's political forces and ethnic communities.

In August 2024, several political parties held a meeting at al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad, during which a new Kirkuk administration was announced without the participation of the KDP and part of the Turkmen and Arab representatives. Since then, the KDP bloc had boycotted Provincial Council sessions and refused to take part in any meetings until it announced today that it was ending the boycott and officially returning to the political process in the city.

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