Kurdish parties to get four ministries in Iraq’s new cabinet: KDP official

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be KDP’s share, the official said, adding the Iraqi justice ministry is for PUK.

Kurdistan 24 2022/10/21 15:47

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (top center) chairing a ministerial meeting in Baghdad, August 12, 2022. (Photo: Iraqi PM Media Office)

Kurdistan Iraq Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani PM KDP PUK

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdish share in the next Iraqi government is four ministries, a top Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) told Kurdistan 24 on Thursday.

Out of the four ministries, three of them will be held by the KDP while another one will be reserved for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Arif Tayfoor, the party’s senior member of the political office, told Kurdistan 24.

He added the political parties have agreed that the Kurdish share is four ministries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be held by KDP, the official said, adding the Iraqi justice ministry will be for PUK, the official said.

KDP and PUK, the Kurdistan Region’s two major ruling parties, are also part of the Iraqi Administering the State Coalition to form the new Iraqi government, headed by Prime Minister-designate Mohammad Shia’ Al-Sudani.

Al-Sudani is set to visit the capital Erbil in the coming days to meet with the KDP President Masoud Barzani regarding his cabinet’s agenda, Tayfoor revealed.

Ministries and other senior positions in the Iraqi government are distributed based on the number of seat parties have in the legislative house.

The Coalition has recently said that it intends to hold a parliamentary session on voting for its cabinet. But a number of reports mentioned that it would be delayed, citing talks are ongoing among the ministries.

Breaking the over one-year-long political deadlock, Iraqi lawmakers last week elected a President of the Republic Latif Rasheed, who later named Al-Sudani for the premiership.