National Stance Movement

The National Stance Movement (Kurdish: ڕەوتی هەڵوێستی نیشتیمانی, romanized: Rewtî Helwêstî Nîştimanî; Arabic: الموقف, romanized: al-Mawqif, abbreviated as Halwest) is a political party in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It was founded on 19 March 2024 with a congress held in Sulaymaniyah. The party includes former members of the Gorran Movement, among them the party leader Ali Hama Saleh, as well as of the National Coalition. The party was also joined by disgruntled teachers who have been protesting the repeated failure by authorities to pay their salaries over the last few years.

At the founding conference, Ali Hama Saleh was elected as leader of the new party. Apart from Saleh, the party's executive committee consists of Bedel Berwarî, Rêbwar Kerîm Mehmûd, Xalib Mihemed, Karwan Hama Saleh, Xanzad Mihemed, Serdar Qadir, Selîm Koyî and Mamosta Fûad. After the conference, Saleh said that the goals of the party are not just to participate in elections and that the attempts to prevent the regional election from taking place could lead the region into a "very dark tunnel".

For the 2024 election, the party submitted a list containing 62 candidates, most of whom are running in Silêmanî Governorate. Draw Media also reported, that there was internal conflict at the foundational conference and that prominent founding members like Yûsif Mihemed and Mesûd Ebdulxaliq withdrew.