UPDATED: KDP and PUK hold high-level meeting in Erbil to discuss new gov. formation

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region’s two main parties held a high-level meeting in Erbil on Monday and discussed the formation of the new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and its cabinet.

This is the third round of meetings between the leading Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on the formation of government.

The meeting was meant to have been held weeks earlier but had been repeatedly postponed for unknown reasons.

The KDP’s key delegates were Nechirvan Barzani, the deputy head of the KDP, Masrour Barzani, the KDP’s nominee to form the new cabinet as Prime Minister, Fazil Mirani, the secretary of KDP Politburo, Hoshyar Zebari, Mahmoud Mohammed, Azad Barwari, and Jaafar Iminki, as members of the KDP politburo.

The PUK delegates included Kosrat Rasul, acting leader of the PUK, and other party members such as Arsalan Bayiz, Hakim Qadr Hamajan, Omar Fatah, Saadi Pira, Bafel Talabani, Qubad Talabani, Raf’at Abdullah, and Lahur Sheikh Jangi.

Following the meeting, the spokespersons for both parties in a presser revealed that the delegates had discussed the formation of government as well as the situation in Kirkuk and Iraq.

“We decided to form a joint committee with the PUK to expedite the process,” the KDP Spokesperson, Mahmoud Mohammed, told reporters.

Both the KDP and the PUK need to reach a political agreement as the two parties cooperating would “considerably benefit the Kurdistan Region,” said Saadi Pira, the PUK’s spokesperson.

“Disputes between the KDP and the PUK are not so insurmountable, but they have been greatly exaggerated [by local media],” Pira added.

In the Sept. 30 regional parliamentary elections, the KDP came in first, securing 45 seats in the 111-seat Kurdistan Parliament, followed by the PUK, with 21 seats.

Editing by Nadia Riva