KDP, PUK share views on Kurdistan Region's next cabinet: Official

Both of the Kurdistan Region's leading parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), are in agreement...

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Both of the Kurdistan Region's leading parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), are in agreement on the broad strokes of the next regional government, officials from each announced following a joint meeting on Saturday.

A delegation of the KDP, which won the most regional parliament seats in September's elections, visited Sulaimani to negotiate with members of the second place winner, the PUK.

Following the meeting, spokespersons from both parties held a press conference in which they summarized the meeting positively.

"With the PUK, we want to create a joint perspective on the way the new government should be built," said the KDP's Mahmoud Mohammed. "We will try to bring political stability to the Kurdistan Region in the next four years to lead to economic development and improvement in people’s livelihoods."

He stressed that a stabilized political environment will attract more foreign investment in the Kurdistan Region.

"Our views on the future government were very close to each other, and we are planning to discuss more about the new government in details in upcoming meetings," he added, noting that the KDP will also meet with other parties regarding the formation of the new government, but that if any of them had already chosen to be opposition, that decision would be respected.

For his part, PUK Spokesperson Saadi Ahmed Pira told reporters that both sides had discussed how to learn from past mistakes and that the PUK has "no vetoes" on any party that wants to be part of the next government.

"We partake in this government on the basis of partnership, which means we make decisions together," he added, standing next to his KDP counterpart.

The KDP delegates will also meet with Gorran (Change) leaders to hear their take on the new cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

In the recent regional parliamentary elections, out of the total 111 seats, the KDP won 45, the PUK 21, and Gorran secured 12, losing half of their previous seats.

Most of the previous KRG cabinets have been formed jointly by the KDP and PUK. In some, they distributed the posts equally to create a consensus to govern the semi-autonomous region together. Neither of the two parties has so far served as opposition.

Editing by John J. Catherine