Kirkuk erupted in anger and resentment hours after the acting governor of Kirkuk Rakan Said al-Jubouri took down a portrait of the late Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, in the governor's official chamber.
Facing mounting popular discontent, Jabouri issued a statement stressing that his decision to remove the portrait came in implementation of instructions received from federal authorities in Baghdad.
According to Jabouri, orders stipulated the removal of any symbolic images from official institutions belonging to the Iraqi state regardless of the stature of those symbols -- but Baghdad made no confirmation.
“Mr. Talabani was a national symbol and a pride. His image was raised when he was president of the republic, but there are instructions from the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to remove the images of symbols and the commitment to replace it with the image of the current president,” Jubouri said in his statement.
Talabani, the first non-Arab president of Iraq, is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as President from 2006 to 2014, as well as the President of the Governing Council of Iraq.
But Jabouri's justifications did not suit Kurdish circles, with anger raging among members of the local government in Kirkuk, where Kurds constitute an overwhelming majority.
“The timing of removing the image of late President Talabani is completely inappropriate, and motives behind this action remain unknown," Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) member Babeker Siddiq told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Presented justifications are not convincing, Siddiq added.
The PUK describes its goals as self-determination, human rights, and democracy and peace for the Kurdish people of Kurdistan and Iraq.
“Since Jubouri took over office as governor of Kirkuk, he has been acting unilaterally and independently of the provincial council, making decisions inspired by his own imagination,” Siddiq slammed Jabouri.
“He pays no attention to the local government, and has not filled in its members on instructions issued from Baghdad,” he added.
“Assuming that such instructions have truly been issued by the federal authority, Jabouri should have consulted with members of the provincial council out of respect of the status of the late President Jalal Talabani, which is a symbol of peace and national unity,” Siddiq added.
According to the PUK member, Jabouri has taken multiple actions that overlook Kurdish public opinion, which now strongly condemns him.
The PUK, which has a large support base in Kirkuk, tried in March to erect a statue of its late leader, Talabani, at the ancient citadel of Kirkuk.
In the local governing authority’s defense, it requested moving the statue to another location, claiming that the area was an archaeological site belonging to all components of the local population and must be kept neutral.
