Parties in Iraq’s Kurdistan region battling for role in new

[Aslan]

The anti-corruption Change Movement bagged second place in September’s parliamentary election. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat this month, regional Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said the opposition achieved nothing over the past four years except throwing water bottles. That refers to the outrage when regional President Massoud Barzani’s term was extended by two years. But members of the Democratic Party have defended their leaders.

A new report by the Swedish Green Party accuses one of the ruling parties - believed to be the Democratic Party - of controlling the seats for minority parties. There were previous claims that groups of Democratic Party supporters were told to vote for the minority parties. The minority parties can win seats with fewer votes than the minimum quota for other parties. It’s believed that the Democratic Party wanted to get control of the eleven minority party MPs. But Democratic Party officials deny the accusations.

The Change Movement seems to be striking a balance between playing the opposition and being a fully-fledged government partner. The movement has made it clear that it wants control of entire ministries to implement reforms from the ground up. But criticism from the ruling Democratic Party against the opposition could exacerbate the negotiations to form the new regional government.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/10/23 ... -new-govt/