Leader of the New Generation Movement, Shaswar Abdulwahid has sparked controversy in recent days with statements criticising the political structure of the Kurdistan Region and calling for its abolition, drawing condemnation from multiple political parties, civil society groups and community representatives across the region.
Rebwar Babkayi, a prominent political figure and former head of the KDP’s Branch 10, delivered a sharp rebuke of Abdulwahid, describing his rhetoric as crossing the line from political opposition into what he termed “intellectual terrorism” and warning that “Shaswar has crossed all red lines.” Babkayi added that the Kurdistan Region “does not belong to Shaswar” but belongs to the martyrs who secured it.
Zana Mela Khalid, head of the KDP’s Branch Two, pointed to contradictions in Abdulwahid’s recent political alliance with the PUK, noting it was an arrangement made under pressure and recalling that Abdulwahid had previously threatened PUK leaders before aligning with them.
Dr Ashwaq Jaf, a member of the KDP Central Committee and Iraqi parliament representative, framed the defence of Kurdish autonomy as the linchpin of Iraq’s post-2003 democratic order, citing Article 117 of the Iraqi Constitution and stating that the region’s status was not handed over but won through decades of struggle and sacrifice.
The Christian Alliance in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region also condemned Abdulwahid’s remarks, describing them as a threat to social peace and constitutional legitimacy and warning that questioning the region’s legitimacy risks undermining decades of coexistence among Kurds, Christians, Yezidis, Turkmen, Arabs and Armenians.
The alliance noted that the Kurdistan Region has long served as a safe haven for Christians and other minority communities, protecting religious freedoms and supporting the preservation of Syriac, Assyrian, Chaldean, Armenian and Turkmen languages and cultures, and urged Abdulwahid to adopt a more responsible political discourse.
The backlash comes at a sensitive moment for Kurdistan Region politics. Abdulwahid’s New Generation Movement signed a power-sharing agreement with the PUK earlier this year, a significant reversal for a party that had built its identity on opposition to the region’s established ruling parties, and one that has drawn questions over whether legal pressure on Abdulwahid during his recent imprisonment influenced the decision.
Civil society groups have warned that creating political crises at this sensitive time could hinder ongoing reform initiatives and deepen political tensions across the Kurdistan Region.
