By Hawre Hasan Hama

Ameeting led by the former Kurdistan President, Massoud Barzani, between fifteen different political parties was held on the 7th June 2017 to hold the referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan for independence. The meeting ended with an agreement to hold an Iraqi Kurdistan-wide independence referendum on the 25th September 2017. Both the Gorran Movement (Gorran) and the Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal) refused to take part in the meeting and instead requested that the government’s main focus be on restoring the political environment and restarting the Kurdistan parliament before any discussions take place on the issue of a Kurdish referendum. Notwithstanding internal, regional and international pressures, the Kurdistan Regional Government pressed ahead and held its referendum on the 25th September 2017. Therefore, the central question that remains regarding the issue of the Kurdistan referendum is what motivating Kurdish politicians, in particular those of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to hold the poll? This article argues that the KDP has the public and private motivations in holding the independence referendum.  

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