The Kirkuk Provincial Assembly held its meeting on Saturday at the Rashid Hotel in Baghdad with the participation of 9 members of the assembly.

At the meeting, PUK member Rebwar Taha was elected the new Kurdish governor of Kirkuk by receiving the votes of 3 Arabs, 1 Christian and 5 PUK members.

Two members of the KDP, two members of the Turkmen Front and the remaining Arab members did not attend the meeting.

The parties that did not attend the meeting planned to prevent the Kirkuk Governor from being a Kurd, in line with the plan developed by the Turkish state, and to give the governorship to the Turkmen Front despite receiving low votes.

It was planned that the KDP would share the Kirkuk Governorship with the Arabs and Turkmen Front members who did not attend the meeting, at two-year intervals. The Turkmen Front officially announced that it had established an alliance with the KDP on this basis.