Salih Zhajlayi | Exclusive to iKurd.net
Translated by iKurd.net from Kurdish Awene.
Mam Jalal’s Second Major Strategic Mistake
I discussed Mam Jalal (Jalal Talabani)’s political personality in detail.. At the end, I pointed out that he had made two major strategic mistakes during his political career. In Part one, I discussed Mam Jalal’s first major strategic mistake. In Part II, I will discuss his second major strategic mistake in detail.
If Mam Jalal had cared as much about his party and the future of his people as he cared about his own interests, the best thing he could have done would have been to convene a special meeting of the entire Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leadership when he became President of Iraq. He should have addressed them and said:
“I am now the President of Iraq, replacing Saddam Hussein. This means I will be extremely busy and will not be able to oversee the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan from Baghdad. To prevent a political and organizational vacuum within the party and avoid internal problems, I propose that Nawshirwan Mustafa take my place as PUK Secretary-General. As you all know, throughout our years in the mountains, Nawshirwan was my deputy and was just as committed to the cause as I was.”
Everyone would almost certainly have agreed, and no one would have objected to Nawshirwan Mustafa becoming the PUK Secretary-General.
Unfortunately, Mam Jalal was so attached to his position that he was unwilling to step down. He wanted to continue making decisions from Baghdad, including decisions about appointments to party committees. This reflected his lack of trust in others and his desire to keep all power and decision-making authority in his own hands.
When Nawshirwan realized that Mam Jalal was no longer the same person he had known before, that the era of the mountains was over, and that Mam Jalal had now become President of Iraq, with considerable money and power at his disposal, but no longer had the same responsibilities as before, he decided to leave.
On January 5, 2006, he submitted his permanent resignation from the PUK.
Afterward, he visited Mam Jalal in Baghdad. Mam Jalal gave him $10 million, along with the Zargata estate (hill), to establish a media company. This was presented as a gesture of appreciation for all the years they had spent fighting alongside each other.
I am certain that Mam Jalal was very pleased with Nawshirwan’s resignation because the political field was now completely open to him. Nawshirwan had been one of the few people capable of occasionally challenging him.
In 2007, Nawshirwan established Wesha Company for media and research activities. It included the newspaper Rozhnama, the Sbey website, and the KNN television channel.
Nawshirwan’s departure from the PUK, along with his media activities, laid the foundation for the establishment of the Change Movement (Gorran), which was announced as an opposition political force. It participated in the 2009 Kurdistan parliamentary elections and won 25 seats in parliament.
The Negative Consequences of Nawshirwan’s Departure from the PUK
1. After Nawshirwan left the PUK, announced the Change Movement, and participated in the elections, winning 25 parliamentary seats compared with the PUK’s 18 seats, this proved disastrous for the PUK. The party lost a significant portion of its popular support, and this mainly benefited the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
The PUK no longer had the strength and influence it once enjoyed, and it continued to lose public support.
2. After Nawshirwan announced the Change Movement, there was no longer anyone within the PUK capable of controlling all the party’s institutions in Mam Jalal’s absence, particularly its financial affairs.
Jabbar Farman, who had previously been a powerful figure, became seriously ill. On July 9, 2007, before the Change Movement was established, he passed away.
Kosrat Rasoul, who was the strongest figure within the PUK, was still unable to exercise complete control over the party. Gradually, he too began experiencing health problems. He became ill on January 17, 2007. Although he is still alive, he is no longer given any real decision-making authority and remains in his position in name only.
3. After all these developments, Mam Jalal was increasingly absent, and there was no one capable of fully controlling the PUK’s institutions and organizations.
Gradually, PUK officials began looking for ways to enrich themselves. This led to growing dissatisfaction and repeated complaints within the party. PUK members were losing their trust and hope in the party’s future.
On January 21, 2019, the PUK held its Fourth Congress. At that congress, Bafel Talabani and Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabani received the highest number of votes. On February 18, 2020, they were elected as the joint presidents of the PUK.
From that point onward, the old PUK leadership was gradually pushed aside.
Why did these two receive the highest number of votes when neither had extensive experience as Peshmerga fighters nor were they particularly experienced and capable political figures?
The reason goes back to the widespread dissatisfaction and complaints among congress participants toward the old mountain-era leaders, who were mainly concerned with their own interests. The voters expressed their anger by refusing to vote for them. In fact, they made the right decision.
July 8, 2021, marked the beginning of the events. Bafel Talabani took the security authorities away from Lahur, including the Intelligence Agency and the Counterterrorism Directorate. He also removed Lahur’s authority as joint president.
In October 2021, he officially issued a decision expelling Lahur Talabani and several other party leaders who were close to him from the ranks of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
4. Even worse than all of this was what happened in exchange for President Barzani agreeing to allow Mam Jalal to become President of Iraq.
Mam Jalal effectively handed control of the entire Kurdistan Region to Barzani, allowing him to do whatever he wanted there.
During the 2009 elections, in which the Change Movement participated, matters went so far that Mam Jalal himself appeared on television to campaign for President Barzani. He said:
“Despite what our enemies want”, referring to Nawshirwan Mustafa and the Change Movement, “vote for President Barzani and make every effort to re-elect him.”
To explain this further, Mala Bakhtiar gave an interview on Channel 24 in which he said:
“Before Mam Jalal became ill, he openly used to tell the Political Bureau and the leadership: If you do not follow Massoud’s instructions, I will leave and become a refugee in Erbil.”
Mam Jalal behaved this way even though, if he had told President Barzani to run for the presidency himself, Barzani would never have accepted that position.
Mam Jalal had also been told that he could simply ask Barzani, and he could be certain that Barzani would refuse. There was no need for Mam Jalal to put himself through all this trouble or personally campaign for him.
However, Mam Jalal was so obsessed with holding that position that he did not have the courage to test President Barzani.
The Barzani family does not take high government positions, just as Shia religious leaders do not accept government salaries. They consider themselves the owners of the entire nation and see the nation through their own eyes, rather than seeing themselves through the eyes of the people.
For your information, as long as Mam Jalal was President of Iraq in Baghdad, Massoud Barzani constantly created problems for him.
It is even said that on the night Mam Jalal suffered his stroke, he stayed awake until morning, drinking alcohol and speaking with Barzani in an attempt to resolve his problems with Nouri al-Maliki.
Eventually, as a result of the mental exhaustion he had endured, he suffered the stroke that ultimately led to his death.
If, when Mam Jalal first became President of Iraq, he had appointed Nawshirwan Mustafa as PUK Secretary-General in his place, the following things would not have happened:
- Nawshirwan would not have left the PUK.
- The Change Movement would never have been established.
- The old PUK leaders would not have been pushed aside as they are today.
- Bafel and Lahur would not have become the leaders of what was once a powerful PUK, a party that used to make even elephants tremble.
- Massoud Barzani would not have become the unquestioned master of the Kurdistan Region.
- And I have no doubt that Mam Jalal himself would not have suffered that sudden stroke.
After 46 years, I have come to understand the following truth:
On June 1, 1976, the first Peshmerga unit entered the territory of the Kurdistan Region from Syria.
On November 21, 1976, Nawshirwan Mustafa was supervising the dispatch of groups of Peshmerga fighters from Syria into the Kurdistan Region.
Nawshirwan himself arrived in the Kurdistan Region in April 1977 to supervise the Peshmerga forces inside the region.
Mam Jalal returned to the Kurdistan Region in early August 1977. Their temporary headquarters was moved from Bradost in the Badinan area to Nokan.
We must also remember that some members of the leadership, including the martyr Shahab and his companions, had been exposed by the Iraqi government and were forced to flee toward Iran in 1975.
However, they were arrested by Iranian SAVAK agents and handed back to the Iraqi government in 1976. On January 21, 1976, Shahab Sheikh Nouri and several of his companions were executed. The others were each sentenced to several years in prison.
After this, the Komala leadership faced serious problems. Regional leadership structures were established, and Martyr Aram became active within the internal organization. Figures such as Mala Bakhtiar also emerged and began working to reorganize the movement.
Mam Jalal and Nawshirwan Mustafa returned to the Kurdistan Region a little after these internal disputes had taken place.
From the very first day of their return, when they met people who had begun armed struggle only a short time earlier, they felt a certain sense of alienation.
They saw that many people had gathered around Mam Jalal and Nawshirwan Mustafa and were saying here and there, “We started the revolution, and these people have simply arrived to take over.”
However, people such as Salar Aziz, Mala Bakhtiar, and some others did not realize that Mam Jalal and Nawshirwan had started their struggle many years before them and had been comrades in the same cause.
When Mam Jalal and Nawshirwan realized what was happening, they immediately began making careful plans to support each other and establish their positions within the Peshmerga forces.
At the first Komala conference in Malimos, Nawshirwan Mustafa was elected Secretary of Komala. Mala Bakhtiar and his group were disappointed with the outcome, and from that day onward, disagreements between Nawshirwan and that group began.
It was not only Nawshirwan who faced complaints and criticism. Mam Jalal was also subjected to these attacks. People would say, “We did the work, and they took the credit.”
What is particularly interesting is that these people were politically inexperienced and had not even learned the ABCs of politics. Yet, with all their determination, they were thinking about how to remove Mam Jalal and Nawshirwan from their positions, push them aside, and take their places.
That is why, from the very beginning, Mam Jalal and Nawshirwan recognized this danger and supported each other.
In reality, both of them needed each other.
Komala was the largest and most influential force within the PUK. Therefore, it was important for Mam Jalal to remain close to Nawshirwan and have his support.
Likewise, Mam Jalal, as the Secretary-General and a well-known political figure, was equally important to Nawshirwan, who needed his support.
Therefore, they both needed each other and were always complementary to one another.
As far as I could tell, Nawshirwan never spoke badly about Mam Jalal anywhere and always defended him.
Although Nawshirwan was the Secretary of Komala, and Komala was the main pillar of the PUK, Nawshirwan never considered himself greater than Mam Jalal.
There is a Persian saying:
“Politics has no father or mother.”
In other words, politics has no family ties. Loyalty is very rare in politics, and it involves a great deal of deception and betrayal.
After 46 years, I have come to realize that the relationship between Nawshirwan and Mam Jalal was based more on mutual interests than on genuine personal affection.
Mam Jalal always referred to Nawshirwan as “Kaka Newa” (Uncle Newa).
There is a Kurdish proverb that, although it may not be appropriate for me to write here, perfectly fits the situation:
“Black and white become visible in the field.”
In other words, the true nature of people becomes clear during difficult times and when personal interests are at stake.
Despite all the kindness Mam Jalal had shown toward Kaka Newa, he still refused to appoint Nawshirwan as PUK Secretary-General in his place when he became President of Iraq.
If you ask me, I would say that Nawshirwan was more loyal to Mam Jalal than Mam Jalal was to him.
Ultimately, it became clear that Mam Jalal’s affection for Nawshirwan during the years in the mountains did not come entirely from the heart. His personal interests took priority over their brotherly relationship and the friendship they had built during their years of struggle.
iKurd.net’s Note: The original series contains additional parts. The part numbers in this publication have been adjusted to reflect the order in which the articles have been published here.
Salih Zhajlayi, one of the political figures in Sulaimani city, Iraqi Kurdistan, and formerly the Deputy Head of the General Assembly of the Gorran (Change) Movement, is currently working independently in Sulaimani.
This article was originally published in the Kurdish language in Awene Newspaper on November 2, 2026.
The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.
Copyright © 2026 iKurd.net. All rights reserved.
Nawshirwan Mustafa Himself Planted the Seeds of Gorran’s Downfall
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