On November 3, 2022, the Fourteenth Congress began its proceedings in the city of Duhok, with the attendance of 1022 delegates out of 1065 delegates who had the right to participate in the congress from all the Party's organizations, under the (slogan of Freedom, Democracy, and Justice).
Decision to hold the Fourteenth CongressThe Leadership Council of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, at the Political Bureau headquarters in the Pirmam summer resort and under the supervision of President Masoud Barzani, approved the decision to hold the Party's Fourteenth Congress on January 18, 2020, and the city of Duhok was proposed by President Masoud Barzani for this purpose.
Preparations for holding the Fourteenth CongressFor the purpose of conducting the Fourteenth Congress, it was decided to form a seven-member committee consisting of four members of the Political Bureau and three members of the Party's Leadership Council. As follows:
1- Mahmoud Mohammed Mahmoud, member of the Political Bureau
2- Ezaddin Mohammed Abdullah (Ezaddin Barwari), member of the Political Bureau
3- Jaafar Ibrahim Haji Piro (Jaafar Eminki), member of the Political Bureau
4- Christopher Yalda Torkhan (Rebwar Yalda), member of the Political Bureau
5- Hemin Ahmed Saleh (Hemin Hawrami), member of the Leadership Council
6- Chinar Saad Abdullah, member of the Leadership Council
7- Ali Tatar Tofiq Nerwayi, member of the Leadership Council
In the meeting of December 20, 2020, the Preparatory Committee held its first meeting at the Political Bureau headquarters, and the focus of the meeting was on the definition of the Party, the program, and the Party's structure, and it was decided to utilize the capabilities of experts in the academic field for clarity and to improve the work. Thus, on February 9, 2020, these teams were designated for this purpose:
1- Political Team
2- Legal Team
3- Administrative and Financial Team
4- Social and Services (Logistics) Team
After this date, on March 9, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the whole world, including the Kurdistan Region, and caused the postponement of the Fourteenth Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
Election of the Fourteenth Congress delegates. On May 8, 2022, the process of electing the congress delegates (internal conference) was decided upon, and for this purpose, a committee of 21 members was formed to supervise this process, consisting of these members: Dr. Idris Hadi, Head of the Committee; Nejat Hassan, Assistant; Aras Tawfiq; Ihsan Amidi; Fariq Faruq; Bakhtiyar Haidar; Reving Herori; Ali Balo; Hoshyar Sadiq; Adil Botani; Hirsh Fatah; Feyroz Taha Akrayi; Sirwan Kaka'i; Arsalan Hamadamin; Naji Ahmed; Brusk Star Qadir; Natiq Quriyaqus (Branch 14); Star Sadiq; Arsalan Hamadamin; Dakhil Qasim Hassoon (former Mayor of Sinjar); Dildar Saleh Hama; Hassan Mirani This committee met on June 19, 2022, with President Masoud Barzani and members of the Political Bureau regarding the mechanism for conducting the elections (conference), and it was decided that there would be one delegate for every 1000 members, and the percentage of women should not be less than 25 percent.
The election process began on August 27, 2022, within the borders of the Party's branches, and each organization was designated as an electoral district. The specialized committees carried out this task across the borders of all five governorates within the Kurdistan Region, and 3 committees were formed for outside Kurdistan (Baghdad, Europe, America).
Congress Management Committee, November 3, 2022:1- Dr. Nasih Ghafoor Ramazan, Head of the Committee
2- Issa Ahmed Agha
3- Dr. Jabbar Qadir
4- Dr. Abdul-Fattah Ali Botani
5- Mustafa Goran
6- Wahida Yaqo
On May 8, 2022, in the meeting of the Leadership Council of the Kurdistan Democratic Party held at the Pirmam summer resort, the decision to hold the Fourteenth Congress of the Party was made..
To implement this decision, the Congress Preparatory Committee was formed to elect the congress delegates from among the Party members within the borders of the governorate leadership councils, branches, districts, the Party's central bureaus, boards, centers, and Party institutions, based on a proportional basis, with one delegate for every 1000 Party members and the attendance of two-thirds of the organizations of that body. After the completion of the election of delegates on September 7, 2022, the Party's Political Bureau held its last regular meeting on October 23, 2022, and the following day, i.e., October 24, 2022, the last meeting of the Leadership Council was held, and they agreed unanimously on the set date. According to that decision, on November 3, 2022, the Fourteenth Congress began its proceedings in the city of Duhok, with the attendance of 1022 delegates out of 1065 delegates who had the right to participate in the congress from all the Party's organizations, under the (slogan of Freedom, Democracy, and Justice). The importance of this congress (the Fourteenth Congress) was that the Party, after overcoming several difficult situations, including the four-year war imposed by ISIS and the war of occupation and the destruction of the Kurdistan Region's experience after the independence referendum on September 25, 2017, and the regional and outside conspiracy with the enemies of the Kurdish people, was subjected to a one-sided war, in addition to the cutting of the budget by the government of Iraq, the decline in oil prices, the difficult economic situation of the Kurdistan Region, and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 in Kurdistan and at the level of the whole world, with 12 years having passed since its thirteenth congress, while at the same time major changes had occurred in the region and the world..
The beginning of the 14th Congress started with the reading of several verses from the Holy Quran and the national anthem of Iraq and the national anthem of Kurdistan. Then, the Congress Management Committee was elected, and five committees for complaints and bylaws/programs were designated. Then, the Congress continued its work by reading reports, including the political and organizational reports. Later, in a secret ballot, 51 members and 9 alternates for the Central Committee were elected. Although it was decided that the voting would be electronic, due to technical problems and at the request of most of the congress members, the voting was conducted by hand, with three polling stations set up and counting taking place. In the continuation of the process, President Masoud Barzani by the vote of the majority of the congress members, was elected as the President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party was re-elected.
In this congress, several significant changes were made to the structure of the Party to adapt to the Situation of the Party, including the election of two deputies for the President, the Office of the President became the Secretariat of the President, and the Board of Oversight and Follow-up will be directly under the President of the Party, the Supreme Council of Strugglers was established which will be affiliated with the President of the Party, increasing the percentage of women in the Party leadership by 15%, and also instead of the phrase Leadership Council Kurdistan Democratic Party Central Committee was used again, the Provincial Councils became the Provincial Organization Office, and the number of members of the Political Bureau of the Party became 17 members, including the Executive Board of the Political Bureau which was formed of a secretary and four members, and changes were also made to the offices, agencies, centers, and boards of the Political Bureau and their names were changed to departments and the structure is as follows: Department of Organization, Elections, Studies and Training, Culture and Media, Public Relations, Mass and Professional Organizations, Administration and Finance, and the Department of Investment and Projects.
The 14th Congress concluded its work on November 6, 2022, by issuing a final communiqué.
The Central Committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party consisted of these members:1- Sidad Barzani
3- Fazel Mirani
5- Azad Barwari
7- Zaeem Ali (Omar Osman)
8- Rebwar Yalda
9- Fuad Hussein
10- Aref Tayfur
11- Kamal Kirkuki
12- Gohdar Shekho
14- Umed Khoshnaw
15- Ali Awni
16- Ashwaq Jaf
17- Hiwa Gailani
19- Sarbast Lazgin
20- Aras Haso Mirkh an
21- Ali Hussain
22- Amina Zikri
23- Dilshad Shahab
24- Sagvan Halo
25- Muhsin Kamal
26- Sirwan Barzani
27- Ali Tatar
28- Nejat Ali
29- Zagros Fatah
30- Nuri Osman Shingali
33- Umed Sabah
35- Jaafar Ibrahim
37- Hemn Hawrami
40- Sarbast Trwanshi
41- Bland Ismail
42- Hamid Ali
43- Evin Haruri
44- Salar Osman
46- Ahmed Kani
47- Sanaw Fereydun Jwanroyi
48- Ari Nanakali
50- Vian Sulaiman
51- Vala Farid
52- Mahmoud Mahmoud Ezidi (at the end of the congress and due to the fact that no member from the Ezidi component was elected to the Central Committee, and upon the proposal of the President and by the vote of the congress representatives, this proposal was approved and he became a member of the KDP Central Committee).
Reserve members of the KDP Central Committee at the 14th Congress:
1- Sasan Awni
5- Chia Muhammad Herki
In the first meeting of the KDP Central Committee, the Political Bureau was formed as follows:1- Fazel Mirani, Head of the Political Bureau Executive Board
2- Sidad Barzani, member of the Political Bureau Executive Board
3- Mahmud Muhammad, member of the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau
4- Hoshyar Zebari, member of the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau
5- Azad Barwari, member of the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau
6- Kamal Kirkuki, member of the Political Bureau
7- Fariq Ali, member of the Political Bureau
8- Rebwar Yalda, member of the Political Bureau
9- Fuad Hussein, member of the Political Bureau
10- Aref Tayfur, member of the Political Bureau
11- Ali Hussain, member of the Political Bureau
12- Pshtiwan Sadiq, member of the Political Bureau
13- Nawzad Hadi, member of the Political Bureau
14- Sarbast Lazgin, member of the Political Bureau
15- Hemin Hawrami, member of the Political Bureau
16- Hiwa Ahmed Mustafa, member of the Political Bureau
17- Amina Zikri , member of the Political Bureau
Among those 17 members, 5 were elected as members of the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau as follows:
1- Fazel Mirani, responsible for the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau
2- Sidad Barzani, member of the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau
3- Mahmud Muhammad, member of the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau
4- Hoshyar Zebari, member of the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau
5- Azad Barwari, member of the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau
Decisions of the Congress:
1- The name of the President's Office was changed to the President's Secretariat.
2- Appointment of 2 deputies for the President of the Party under the title of Vice Presidents.
3- Changing the name of the Leadership Council to the Central Committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
4- The Central Committee consists of 52 members and 9 reserves.
5- The Provincial Leadership Council was changed to the Provincial Organization Bureau.
6- The Political Bureau consists of 17 members of the Central Committee, and an Executive Bureau of 5 members was established within the Political Bureau; the position of Secretary of the Political Bureau was changed to the responsible for the Executive Bureau of the Political Bureau.
7- Establishment of a new body called the Supreme Council of Strugglers for those veteran leaders and strugglers of the Party who need to carry out their duties and tasks in a body specific to them and are consulted when necessary.
8- Both institutions, the Supreme Council of Strugglers and the Board of Supervision and Follow-up, are directly affiliated with the President of the Party.
9- It was approved in the Congress that branch committee administrators consist of 6 members, district committee administrators consist of 4, and organization committees consist of an organization responsible and 2 deputies.
10- The legal term of the Party Congress is 5 years, and the Central Committee can extend the term of the Congress by one year in necessary and extraordinary circumstances.
11- To honor the struggle, the Medal of the Immortal Barzani was awarded to 76 members, personalities, revolutionaries, and strugglers of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
Final Communiqué of the 14th Congress:The 14th Congress concluded its work on November 6, 2022, by issuing a final communiqué..
Source:Archive of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Encyclopedia Board