KRG Head of Foreign Relations Says KDP-PUK Talks Open Path Toward Forming New KRG Cabinet

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Safeen Dizayee, Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Department of Foreign Relations, said on Wednesday that recent political talks have created a positive opportunity to form a new KRG cabinet, more than a year after parliamentary elections were held in the Kurdistan Region.

Speaking at a press conference, Dizayee noted that the Kurdistan Region has yet to form a new cabinet 14 months after the elections, adding that international diplomatic delegations have repeatedly emphasized the importance of completing the process. He said the formation of a new government would pave the way for key economic and military reform projects, including efforts supported by partner countries to unify the Peshmerga forces.

Dizayee pointed to Tuesday’s meeting between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) as a significant and encouraging development. “After the meeting between the PUK and the KDP, there is a promising opportunity to form a new cabinet,” he said.

According to Dizayee, negotiations to establish the 10th cabinet of the KRG are currently underway, although a final agreement has not yet been reached despite months of high-level discussions.

The Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections were held on October 20, 2024. The official distribution of seats in parliament is as follows: the Kurdistan Democratic Party holds 39 seats, followed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan with 23 seats, the New Generation Movement with 15 seats, the Kurdistan Islamic Union with seven seats, the Halwest (Stance) Movement with four seats, the Kurdistan Justice Group with three seats, the People’s Front (Baray Gell) with two seats, and one seat each for the Gorran (Change) Movement and the Kurdistan Region Coalition.