ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Representatives of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) met in Sulaimani on Saturday, kickstarting cabinet formation talks over a month after the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections.
The ruling parties held their first round of talks at the PUK’s politburo building in Sulaimani and “discussed the post-election phase of the sixth term of the Kurdistan Parliament and the possibilities and preparations for how to work in a way that is in the interests of the people of Kurdistan,” according to a statement from the office of Qubad Talabani, a senior PUK member and deputy prime minister in the outgoing government.
“The two negotiating delegations expressed their readiness to continue the meetings between them and all other Kurdistani parties,” the statement added.
The KDP has not yet commented on the meeting.
Earlier this week, Dilshad Shahab, a member of the KDP’s government formation team, said they are willing to speak with all the parties.
“The KDP’s doors will be open to discussion with all sides, and there are no preconditions to make agreements” regarding the government formation process, Shahab said.
No single party won a majority in the parliament so a governing coalition will have to be formed, as has historically been the case. The KDP and PUK, while rivals, also share power in government.
A PUK delegation headed by Talabani visited Kurdistan Justice Group (Komal) leader Ali Bapir on Wednesday. Komal, an Islamic party, won three spots in the 100-seat legislature.
Bapir was a vocal critic of the two ruling parties during the election campaign and when the results were released, Komal announced that it would not take its parliamentary seats in protest over alleged electoral fraud.
Komal, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), the People's Front (Baray Gal), and the National Stance Movement (Halwest) have repeatedly denounced the election results, alleging fraud and voter manipulation.
New Generation Movement (NGM), a vocal critic of the KDP and PUK, is the third largest party in the parliament. Last week, the party’s leader Shaswar Abdulwahid said that any party looking to form the government “will find the easiest path by reaching an agreement with NGM and supporting its project to establish the government.”
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Tuesday issued a presidential decree summoning newly-elected lawmakers to hold the first parliamentary session on December 2, when they will be sworn in.
