People's Front (Kurdistan Region)

The People's Front (Kurdish: بەرەی گەل, romanized: Bereyî Gel, is a political party in the Kurdistan Region that was founded by the former co-chair of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Lahur Sheikh Jangi.^[1]

The party received its license from the interior ministry on 17 January 2024.^[2] On its founding congress in Erbil on 14 March 2024, about 160 members participated, electing leadership council of 13 persons. The party claims "serving the Kurdish people, freedom of opinion and civil rights" as their core values,^[3] as well as equality and democracy.^[2]

For the 2024 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election, Lahur Sheikh Jangi is heading the party's list in Silêmanî Governorate.^[4] Şaduman Mela Hesen, his close associate since before the PUK leadership crisis, is heading the list in Erbil Governorate.^[1] In Duhok Governorate, the ex-PUK member Zikrî Zêbarî is heading the list. In total, the party's list has 115 candidates, 56 of which in Silêmanî, 40 in Erbil, 17 in Duhok and 2 in Halabja. In total, 115 candidates are running for the People's Front.^[4]

Other prominent candidates include Pêşrew Heme Can, brother of the ex-PUK politburo member Qadir Heme Can ^[1] and vice president of the University of Sulaimani. Also running for the People's Front is Ednan Usman, a former MP of the Gorran Movement, and Dr. Tiwana Mihemed Necm.^[4]

Background

After the founder and leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Jalal Talabani, died in 2017, a struggle for the leadership of the party ignited between Jalal's son Bafel Talabani and the then co-president Lahur Sheikh Jangi. On the PUK's fourth congress in December 2019, Sheikh Jangi received the most votes for the General Leadership Council. In a compromise, he and Bafel were proclaimed co-presidents. In July 2021, Bafel shut down a media outlet close to Sheikh Jangi and ousted several important commanders from the counter-terrorism and intelligence units of the PUK, who were seen as affiliates of him. Shortly after, Bafel was declared the sole leader of the party. In November, Lahur Sheikh Jangi was expelled from the PUK along a few others and Bafel took full control over the party's finances. Sheikh Jangi filed a lawsuit against the expulsion. In February 2023, a court in Erbil ruled, that the ouster from the co-presidency was contradicted PUK's internal regulation and reinstated him. A day after however, on February 21, the judicial authority on Iraqi elections in Baghdad declared Bafel Talabani the sole leader of the PUK.^[5] After that, Sheikh Jangi proceeded to work on founding his own party.^[4]

References