ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on Tuesday called on political parties to refrain from participating in the scheduled “illegal” parliamentary session, as the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) staged a surprise push to reactivate the legislature after two years of deadlock.
With the KDP and its allies holding 45 confirmed participants - just short of a 51-seat quorum - the PUK voiced concern that defections driven by coercion or incentives could allow its rival to hold the meeting and bypass power-sharing negotiations.
Wednesday’s scheduled session is “illegal, far removed from the principles of genuine partnership, and it is an attempt to impose the will of a single party,” read the PUK’s statement, requesting political parties to skip the meeting if they are “concerned about the entity of the Kurdistan Region.”
The statement comes hours after the KDP, which holds 39 seats in the 100-seat Kurdish legislature, asked political parties earlier in the day to attend the session. Three elected quota members – two Christians and one Turkman – as well as the two elected lawmakers from People’s Front (Baray Gal) and the single lawmaker of the Kurdistan Social Democratic Party, immediately responded to the call.
Ultimately, 45 members officially expressed willingness to participate, just seven short of securing an absolute majority.
Conversely, the New Generation Movement (NGM) – an ally of the PUK which holds 15 seats – alongside two quota members, seven members from the Kurdistan Islamic Union, all the four members of the National Stance Movement (Halwest), and both single members of the Change Movement (Gorran) and the Kurdistan Justice Group (KJG) said they will not participate.
Two members of the PUK, Hardi Salah and Mohammed Faysal Karimkhan, have announced their withdrawal from the party and said they are “independent,” leaving the PUK with 21 seats.
It is not clear whether they will participate in tomorrow’s session. Salah told Rudaw’s Soran Hussein that “tomorrow you will see what is going to happen.”
Together, they make 51 of the seats. The KJG, holding three seats, boycotted the sixth term of the Kurdistan Parliament, whereas Hero Attar isolated herself from the party and said she is “independent.”
Although empirically the KDP and its allies cannot establish quorum, the PUK has signaled fear that its rival might secure it.
“If the basis of democracy is compromised by influencing lawmakers' decisions through purchasing, threats, and psychological pressure,” the PUK’s Tuesday statement read, then within “such a paper framework,” we will not recognize any parliament or government resulting from such sessions.
The PUK’s fear stems from the possibility of some elected lawmakers both within and outside the pro-boycott bloc defecting in Wednesday's session.
Following multiple rounds of talks, the KDP and PUK remain at an impasse over reaching a power-sharing consensus to form the Kurdistan Regional Government’s tenth cabinet.
Basing its demand on an agreement to join seats with the NGM, the PUK has pushed for an equitable split of executive leadership and senior posts, whereas the KDP insists that governmental appointments must align directly with parliamentary election outcomes.
The ongoing political deadlock has stalled the legislature from selecting its speaker, deputy speaker, and secretary, leaving the parliament incapable of conducting standard legislative proceedings and oversight duties.
Mohammed Sulaiman, who serves as the interim speaker of parliament as its eldest member, rejected Wednesday’s scheduled session.
“I have not convened a parliamentary sitting, nor have I endorsed the official document issued in the name of the parliament’s leadership board,” he told Rudaw on Tuesday. His party, NGM, is among those who decided not to attend the meeting.
The head of the Kurdistan Parliament’s Divan, Ardalan Mohammed Sarspi, also denied issuing a letter released earlier on Tuesday to invite political parties to Wednesday’s session. The letter bore no signature but was attributed to the Divan.
He however noted that “once the necessary numbers are there [quorum], they will “the parliament’s hall will be ready.”
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