Iraq’s Kurdish areas have been caught up in the political ferment sweeping North Africa and the Middle East this year, with public demonstrations against the firm rule of the two parties who jointly dominated Kurdish politics for decades.
Kirkuk lies just outside Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish zone and is divided among Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen. Its provincial government has been led for years by the same Kurdish parties that control the semi-autonomous zone.
The provincial council voted on Wednesday to accept the resignations of Governor Abdul-Rahman Mustafa and provincial council head Razgar Ali, both of whom offered to quit last week.
Mustafa told Reuters he was leaving for personal reasons and because his powers were too weak to be effective, adding: “There was no political pressure on me from any party.”
However, his deputy, Rakan Said, an Arab, said his departure was a result of political disputes within the Kurdish parties.
“We think that the issue of the resignation has come as a result of internal political pressures, not as a result of popular demands.”
Mohammed Khalil, an Arab member of the provincial council, said the governor would probably be replaced by another Kurd, but the provincial council chief would be replaced by a member of the Turkmen ethnic minority. The resignations were intended by Kurdish leaders to blunt criticism of their power, he said.
“The reason for the resignations submitted by the governor and head of the provincial council were political, partisan and programr by the Kurdish parties in order to ease the situation, and to give the position of the head of the provincial council to a Turkmen,” he said.
