Speaker Rewaz Faiq at conference on a Kurdistan Constitution: Unity can be built by putting the citizens and their rights at the centre
Kurdistan Parliament Speaker Dr. Rewaz Faiq on 19 May spoke at a major conference in Erbil on drafting a constitution for the Kurdistan Region.
Speaker Faiq said, “We in Parliament’s Presidency took the first step in this process of drafting the constitution, of visiting all the political parties, both those in power and in the opposition, and the parties representing the ethnic and religious communities of Kurdistan Region.”
She added, “We also made plans to meet with all the political parties that participated in elections but failed to win a sit. Unfortunately Coronavirus prevented us from carrying out that plan.”
Speaker Faiq continued, “What was very pleasing was that no political party that we visited rejected the idea that a constitution is necessary. We must have a constitution, and we must restart the efforts in this term of the Kurdistan Parliament”.
The Speaker said that Parliament’s Presidency asked President of Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani to help build unity and agreement around the drafting of a suitable constitution. She said, “The President of Kurdistan Region can play a great role in coordinating the parties”.
"On the question of unity, according to the Kurdistan Parliament the citizen is central, the rights of citizens should be at the centre of demands, the freedom of the public and serving the needs of the individuals of Kurdistan is the subject of unity.”
“If these principles are put at the centre of the issue of unity, then this unity is necessary and is a matter for the constitution. If lack of unity means serving the interests of political parties, or political parties’ views on self-government, authority and how Kurdistan Region is managed, that’s another subject and should not be an obstacle to a constitution. The constitution should be a mechanism to reform these problems”.
Dr. Faiq said, "We must have a constitution to reform our institutions, to abide by the limits of our authority, so that we do not interfere in each other's powers".
She added, “We are not allowed to reject our nation's right to become the bearers of a constitution, our nation deserves to have a constitution, it should have had one before”.
At the end of the debate, she said, “Sometimes I hear some politicians who say we don't need to have a constitution, the situation is unsuitable. I want to state here that they want to keep the freedoms they have without any checks or limits, because they are the ones with the power to interfere and carry out corruption, and they don’t want anything to stop them.”
Speaker Faiq also pointed out that in the past they have met with the parties and the heads of parliamentary blocks to propose a mechanism for how to prepare and write the constitution.
She said, “I think the first step should be to resolve the points of disagreement between the parties, as well as the issues of the borders of Kurdistan and the Kurdistani areas outside the Kurdistan Regional Government administration”.
The Speaker said that for the steps of drafting the constitution and overcoming the obstacles involved, she suggests that universities and academics work with the Presidency of Kurdistan Region through conferences and academic papers, and present their suggestions in how to draft it.
On the issue of self-government, the Speaker said “What I think is a concern as a last obstacle is self-government, mentioned in Article 122 of the Iraqi Constitution regarding management of administration and finance”.
The conference entitled ‘The Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Unity and Constitution’ was organized by the University of Kurdistan – Hawler and took place the Rotana Hotel in Erbil. Speakers included President Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, Parliament Secretary Muna Kahveci, UNSG Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and heads of several of Kurdistan’s political parties.