On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of President Mam Jalal’s eventual departure, the PUK fraction in the Kurdistan region parliament issued a statement saying that five years ago we lost a unique and historic president.
The statement reads:
Five years ago, President Mam Jalal's big heart stopped beat. Iraq and all freedom fighters and peacemakers lost a unique historical leader who devoted more than six decades to achieving freedom, peace and democracy in Iraq and the region.
The death of President Mam Jalal shocked all communities in Iraq, the region and freedom fighters and became an important global event.
From his youth until he became the first democratically elected president of the Federal Republic of Iraq, President Mam Jalal worked tirelessly to achieve democracy in Iraq and peacefully resolve the legitimate cause of the Kurdish people. The Ba'ath regime's brutality could not weaken its will until it was finally liberated in 1991 in much of Kurdistan and later in 2003 in Iraq.
President Mam Jalal was not only a great and influential leader of the Iraqi opposition, but also the backbone of all Iraqi freedom fighters, opposition and patriots. After the liberation of Iraq and the establishment of a federal Iraq, President Mam Jalal stood at the same distance with all political communities and forces and was always the umbrella of bringing together conflicting parties and he was the foundation of peace and coexistence.
Now that we are commemorating the fifth anniversary of the death of President Mam Jalal, we need his views, thoughts and experience more than ever to end the deep political conflicts, consolidate unity and coexistence and serve the oppressed peoples of Iraq.
We in the PUK fraction, as students and followers of President Mam Jalal, promise to continue his path, thought and experience, national dialogue, peace and coexistence and protect the interests of the Iraqi peoples and put aside narrow party and personal interests and continue our parliamentary struggle.