SULAIMANIYAH, Kurdistan Region of Iraq — The political establishment in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is divided in opposition to and support for holding a referendum on independence and what the government's priorities should otherwise be.

One possible casualty of the dispute is Alaa Talabani, who was relieved of her position as head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's (PUK) bloc in the Iraqi parliament June 12 as per a decision taken by the PUK’s political bureau. The reason behind her dismissal was not stated in the announcement of it, but some observers believe it was because of Talabani's association with a bloc in the party that opposes the referendum.

A senior PUK member who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity attributed her dismissal to some of the bloc’s statements opposing the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the PUK’s partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), including the party’s solid stance in favor of the referendum. 

Meanwhile, Gorran (Movement for Change) and the Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG), in separate statements issued June 14, called against holding the referendum and rejected the KDP's prerequisite for reconvening parliament, that is, removing the parliament speaker, Gorran's Yusuf Mohammed Sadiq, and replacing him with another Gorran member. Gorran and KIG are demanding instead that the internal political crisis be resolved before moving forward with the referendum.