Late night of August 19, a dispute and exchange of words erupted between the Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Shakhwan Abdullah, and the Governor of Kirkuk, Rebwar Taha, regarding the issuance of statements regarding the establishment of a branch for State Electricity Office in Hawija District of Kirkuk.
According to a letter issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity, all sub-districts will be included in this branch.
The two figures, who belong to the two main Kurdish parties (the Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK), each published two official letters issued in the context of the establishment of the Hawija Electricity Distribution Branch, and each criticized the other on social media based on the contents of the documents. "This is a disaster," was the headline accompanying the publication of two letters from the Ministry of Electricity. Shakhwan Abdullah, who assumed his position in Baghdad as part of the (KDP) share, criticized and accused Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha (from the PUK).
He emphasized in a post, "Under this letter, the sub-districts of Shiwan, Laylan, Sargaran, Yaychi, Taza, Pirdy, Daquq, and Dubiz have become part of the Hawija district."
"From now on, if a (Kurdish) martyr's family in these areas needs an electricity pole installed, they must submit the application in Hawija."
Abdullah said in his post, which was widely circulated by his party's media outlets, "The letter must be canceled, and the Minister of Electricity has agreed to this, but he requested that the cancellation letter be issued by the Kirkuk governor."
Shakhwan Abdullah addressed the Kirkuk governor, saying, "So that these areas do not suffer the same fate as the mayors of Dubiz and Daquq and the Department of Agriculture, I invite you to publish a letter, and I will take care of the rest, because history and the people of these areas will not show mercy to anyone."
This was a reference to the appointment of two Arab figures as mayors of Dubiz and Daquq in exchange for the approval of a Kurd, specifically the (PUK) candidate, to the position of Kirkuk governor.
One of the documents issued by the Ministry of Electricity, published by Abdullah, included approval for the establishment of the Hawija Electricity Distribution Branch within the organizational structure of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company. It was also decided to change the name of the newly established branch to "Hawija and Kirkuk Outskirts Electricity Distribution Branch."
Another letter from the ministry, cited by Abdullah, indicated that the establishment of the branch meets the needs of citizens in the districts of Hawija and Daquq and the sub-districts of Hawija, in addition to a number of other sub-districts such as Shiwan, Sargaran, Laylan, and Yaychi.
With the exception of these two documents issued by the Ministry of Electricity, Shakhwan Abdullah did not refer to the letter from the Kirkuk Governor and the Iraqi Prime Minister.
Kirkuk, an oil-rich city with Iraq's second-largest oil reserves, is ethnically a mixed province with 1.7 million Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Arabs, and Turkmen. It has long been at the center of disputes between Baghdad and Erbil. Kirkuki, who is close to Kirkuk Governor Rebwar Taha and both are members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said the vehicles were bought from the revenue of Kirkuk customs points.
The issue quickly spread through the media, and late last night, the Kirkuk Governor's Office issued a statement responding to Abdullah's statements.
The statement, published under the title "The Prime Minister's approval is exclusively limited to separating the Hawija District Electricity Department from the Kirkuk Electricity Distribution Department," stated that "any attempts to add other areas to the decision will remain mere ink on paper and have no executive value."
The statement also stated, "MP Shakhwan Abdullah should have published the text of the letter and the Prime Minister's approval, which he certainly has, to prevent any ambiguity or misinterpretation of the matter."
The Kirkuk Governor's Office also published two documents, one of which was the letter from the Iraqi Prime Minister, in which he referred to the establishment of the Hawija Electricity Branch solely based on a letter from the Kirkuk Governor.
The Prime Minister's letter also did not include the phrase "outskirts of Kirkuk." Meanwhile, a letter from the Kirkuk governor, attached to a statement from his office and addressed to the Iraqi Prime Minister, referred to the establishment of the Hawija Electricity Distribution Branch, but did not include any statements from the parties.
In his letter, the Kirkuk governor explained the importance of establishing the branch, stating that the districts of Hawija and the sub-districts of Zab, Abbasi, and Riyadh have a population of 450,000.
They are agricultural areas, and their power lines require constant maintenance and upkeep, placing pressure on the Kirkuk Electricity Distribution Branch. Therefore, he requested approval to establish a branch for Hawija and the sub-districts within this district.
Shakhwan Abdullah believes that the Kirkuk governor was "deceived."
"I reviewed the governor's letter No. 636, issued on April 17, 2025, signed by Mr. Rebwar Taha, and addressed to the Prime Minister," he added.
"They made him sign a letter for Hawija, but they added those other areas to it through a conspiracy by one of the ministers."
The Kirkuk provincial council consists of 16 seats; The Kurds have seven seats (five for the PUK and two from the KDP), six for the Arabs (three for the Arab coalition, two for the leadership, and one for the Ouruba), two seats for the Turkmen, and one last seat for the Christians.
