Mala Bakhtiyar, also known as Hikmat Muhammad Karim, is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and writer associated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. His public record includes party leadership, political publications, referendum diplomacy and an independent application for Iraq’s presidency in 2026.

Mala Bakhtiyar wearing glasses and a dark suit, seated in an armchair between a green PUK banner and the Kurdistan flag
Mala Bakhtiyar in his office, photographed by Tamedrussia in July 2014. The PUK banner and Kurdistan flag frame the seated portrait. © Tamedrussia · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name, background and changing party offices

A January 2026 profile by The New Arab identifies Bakhtiyar as Hikmat Muhammad Karim, born in Khanaqin in 1954, and describes him as a former PUK politburo member and Peshmerga commander. [1] Reporting by The New Region that month also identifies him as a former chief of the party’s Executive Bureau. [2] His party career has included several decision-making bodies within the PUK.

The party reorganisation of 2019

Reporting on the PUK’s fourth congress in December 2019 placed Bakhtiyar among the eight members elected to the Supreme Political Council. The same account separately identified Kosrat Rasul Ali as that council’s president and described a larger General Leadership Council. [3] The congress followed repeated delays and disputes over the party’s leadership after Jalal Talabani’s illness and death. It reorganised the structures through which senior figures participated in party decisions.

A documented publishing record

Japan’s National Institute of Informatics catalogue records his name in several forms, including Hikmat Muhammad Karim and Mala Bakhtiyar. It lists the Arabic volume al-Shumūlīyah al-rūḥīyah wa-al-tanwīr al-muʿāṣir, which can be translated as Spiritual Totalitarianism and Contemporary Enlightenment. Published in Cairo in 2014 by the Cairo Center for Kurdish Studies, the first edition is catalogued as 220 pages with bibliographical references. [4] The catalogue classifies the work under despotism, Islam and politics, and Enlightenment.

Referendum diplomacy in 2017

Asharq Al-Awsat’s report of 17 September 2017 recorded Bakhtiyar calling for serious consideration of the American, British and United Nations proposal for negotiations with Baghdad as an alternative to the approaching referendum. He said the Kurdish leadership would meet to examine it and emphasised resolution of outstanding issues, constitutional commitments and democracy. [5] The episode shows his participation in the debate over international guarantees, negotiations and the timing of the vote.

His stated positions in 2025

In a Kurdistan24 interview reported on 5 June 2025, Bakhtiyar welcomed Masrour Barzani’s Washington diplomacy, discussed energy agreements and the unresolved oil-and-gas framework, and supported reconciliation between the KDP and PUK. He also criticised features of contemporary Iraqi and Kurdish politics. [6] These are his political assessments in that interview; they help explain the positions he was advancing at the time.

The presidential application in January 2026

The New Region reported on 5 January 2026 that Bakhtiyar had applied independently for Iraq’s presidency. He told the outlet he would not obstruct a jointly agreed KDP–PUK candidate. [2] On 13 January, Kurdistan24 reported, citing an unnamed senior parliamentary official, that a vetting committee had excluded him because his educational degree was not approved. The New Arab’s following-day candidate survey also reported his exclusion. [7] [1]

Sources and further reading

  1. Dana Taib Menmy, Who Are the Candidates Competing for Iraq’s Presidency?, The New Arab, 14 January 2026; Bakhtiyar’s name, Khanaqin background, birth year and reported candidacy status.
  2. The New Region, Kurdish Parties Field Candidates for Iraqi Presidency, 5 January 2026; direct comments from Bakhtiyar and account of his independent application and former executive role.
  3. Kurdistan24 report republished by Gulan Media, PUK Appoints Senior Officials in Long-Overdue Congress, to Elect Leader Monday, 22 December 2019; Supreme Political Council appointments.
  4. National Institute of Informatics, CiNii Books, al-Shumūlīyah al-rūḥīyah wa-al-tanwīr al-muʿāṣir, by Hikmat Muhammad Karim (Mala Bakhtiyar), Cairo, 2014; catalogue record BC02443077, ISBN 9789778513608.
  5. Asharq Al-Awsat, Barzani: It’s Too Late for an Alternative to Kurdistan Independence Referendum, 17 September 2017; Bakhtiyar’s press-conference comments about the international proposal.
  6. Ahora Qadi, PM Barzani’s Diplomatic Outreach to Washington Strengthens Kurdistan’s Regional Standing, Kurdistan24, 5 June 2025; report of Bakhtiyar’s Basi Roj interview.
  7. Dr. Kamaran Aziz, Mala Bakhtiyar Excluded from Iraq’s Presidential Race, Kurdistan24, 13 January 2026; exclusion reported on the authority of an unnamed parliamentary official.