ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani will meet in Erbil on Sunday to discuss the formation of the new government as well as regional developments. “Bafel Jalal Talabani, president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, will meet to discuss the political situation in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq and the region, political implications, preparation for developments, the position of the Kurdistan Region, and the formation of the new cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government,” read a statement from the PUK office on Saturday. The meeting will take place in Erbil, it added. Peshawa Hawramani, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), confirmed that the meeting will take place on Sunday and the two will discuss the formation of the new government and regional developments. The Kurdistan Region held its delayed parliamentary elections in October. No single party won a majority meaning a governing coalition will have to be formed, as has historically been the case, but the political parties have yet to reach a final agreement. Barzani’s party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), came out on top, securing 39 spots in the 100-member legislature. The PUK came in second with 23 seats. Several opposition parties have claimed electoral fraud. The KDP and PUK, while rivals, have shared power in government since the establishment of the Kurdistan Region in the 1990s. On January 16, Barzani and Talabani had their first meeting since the elections to discuss the government formation. During the election campaign, Talabani positioned himself as a strong critic of the current cabinet, frequently directing his rhetoric at Barzani.
