KDP, PUK meeting was ‘positive,’ says KDP Politburo Secretary

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Politburo Secretary Fazil Mirani on Sunday in a presser called their meeting with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) “positive.”

KDP and PUK political bureaus met in Pirmam, Erbil to discuss parliamentary and provincial council elections.

After the meeting, the KDP Politburo Secretary held a press conference, in which he said that there is no indication that we have denied the PUK's existence as a force.

“Since the PUK could not provide the necessary seats [for parliamentary elections], we gave them to the prime minister,” Mirani added and noted, “The KDP has always considered the Kurdistan Region's interests.”

In the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) parliamentary elections, a political party that secures the majority of available seats will also secure the position of prime minister for its party.

He also stated that “Politics is a science and not temperament. We assure everyone that we will not close our doors and we will continue to solve other issues at future meetings.”

Moreover, this KDP official reiterated that their priority at this stage is to preserve the Kurdistan Region’s sovereignty and hold elections on time.

Following an initiative by KDP President Masoud Barzani calling for a national dialogue among all the parties in the Region, top KDP and PUK delegations met on May 21 and discussed numerous issues, including the upcoming Kurdistan Region parliamentary election set for Nov. 18, 2023.

On June 21, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani received the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, in which both sides agreed to hold parliamentary elections on time.

Read More: PM Barzani, UN envoy to Iraq agrees to hold parliamentary elections on time

In recent months, tensions between the Region’s main partners in the KRG Ninth Cabinet have centered around the administrative and financial management of Sulaimani, which is the PUK’s stronghold.

The tensions led to heated discussions between the two sides, which then led the PUK team to pull out of KRG cabinet sessions for six months.

Following a meeting between PM Barzani and his Deputy Qubad Jalal Talabani from the PUK, tensions began to wane, leading to the party's return to cabinet sessions on Sunday.

The normalization of ties between the two sides has been widely welcomed by the Region's allies, including the US, UK, and the Netherlands.

Read More: Diplomatic missions praise KRG’s commitment to democratic principles