KDP and Components Factions Urge Reactivation of Kurdistan Parliament

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The Kurdistan Parliament's secretariat formally invited lawmakers on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, to return to the chamber at 11 a.m. Wednesday to complete the unfinished inaugural session of the sixth parliamentary term, following public appeals from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and representatives of Turkmen and Christian communities.

The invitation follows a prolonged period of legislative inactivity, during which parliament has been unable to complete the procedures required to establish its leadership. The first sitting began on Dec. 2, 2024, but remained open after political parties failed to agree on the positions of speaker, deputy speaker and secretary.

In its notice, the Presidency of the Kurdistan Parliament Secretariat called on all lawmakers to attend the Nov. 4 sitting to finish the remaining agenda items from the inaugural session. The invitation establishes a date and time for the meeting but does not indicate that the parliamentary factions have reached an agreement on the disputed senior posts.

Earlier on Tuesday, the KDP faction and representatives of Turkmen and Christian communities gathered at the parliament building, where they held separate press conferences to urge lawmakers to reconvene.

Vala Farid, head of the KDP faction, based her appeal on Articles 46, 47 and 48 of the Parliamentary Election Law and Articles 11 and 14 of parliament's internal rules. She also referred to a formal request submitted by the eldest member of parliament on Dec. 1, 2024, and called for the bell to be rung at 11 a.m. Wednesday to resume the initial sitting.

"More than two years after the election of the sixth parliamentary term, parliament remains inactive and has been unable to carry out its legal duties because the procedures of its first session, which began on Dec. 2, 2024, have not been completed," Farid said.

She warned that allowing the legislature to remain paralyzed ran against democratic principles and the Kurdistan Region's wider interests. Calling on all elected members to attend, Farid said they had a responsibility to carry out the mandate entrusted to them by voters.

Muna Qahwachi, a lawmaker representing the Turkmen Reform Party faction, announced that her faction had submitted a memorandum to the Presidency of the Parliament Secretariat seeking the resumption of proceedings.

Qahwachi said the appeal reflected a sense of national responsibility and a commitment to fulfilling lawmakers' legal duties. She argued that parliament needed to resume work to avoid a continuing legal vacuum and urged every faction to take part in Wednesday's session.

Representatives of the Chaldean, Syriac, Assyrian and Armenian communities in Erbil and Duhok also submitted a joint memorandum to the secretariat, reinforcing the call for a return to the chamber.

James Hasdo Hido, who represents those communities in Duhok, and Rami Nouri, their representative in Erbil, expressed concern at the prolonged suspension of parliamentary business. They criticized the absence of practical progress over the previous two years and urged lawmakers to act in accordance with the election law and internal parliamentary rules.

The two representatives called for attendance at 11 a.m. Wednesday, linking the resumption of proceedings to respect for the electorate's wishes and the restoration of public confidence in parliament.

Their appeals, while delivered separately, converge on a common immediate demand: completing the first sitting so that the legislature can begin carrying out its functions. The factions did not announce a shared agreement on who should hold the parliament's leadership positions.

The sixth term has faced political and legal obstacles since the elections, including disagreements over the formation of a new Kurdistan Regional Government cabinet and the selection of parliament's presidency. Under the applicable parliamentary procedures, lawmakers must elect the speaker, deputy speaker and secretary during the initial session, but those appointments have remained unresolved.

The secretariat's formal invitation now places the next step before the elected members. Whether the sitting can complete its outstanding business will depend on attendance and the parliamentary decisions taken on Wednesday.

For the KDP and the Turkmen and Christian representatives who pressed for the sitting, the immediate priority is to end the prolonged interruption and restore the legislature's ability to discharge its responsibilities. The scheduled session provides an opportunity to do so, although the political disagreements that prevented completion of the inaugural proceedings have yet to be resolved.