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Kurdistan
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (2nd from left) speaks at KRG weekly meeting in Erbil on March 6, 2023. Photo: KRG
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani Monday said that his cabinet has asked the ministerial team of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to return to the government's weekly meetings several times.
The PUK team in the government, including Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, stopped attending the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) weekly meetings months ago as a protest expressing the party’s concerns with the government.
“We [have] asked the respected ministerial team of the Kurdistan Patriotic Union to return to the meetings of the Council of Ministers,” Barzani said in a statement on Monday following a cabinet meeting, adding that they have asked the team several times to return to the meetings and respect “the confidence of people and the parliament.”
“We have also officially asked them to return but, unfortunately, they [the team] have not been allowed [by the party] to attend [the KRG meetings],” he noted.
PUK leader Bafel Talabani said Wednesday that neither the governing Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) nor the KRG have contacted the PUK’s governmental team since they started boycotting the meetings to see what their concerns are.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Thursday called on the PUK ministerial team to return to the KRG meetings, adding that their concerns have been taken “very seriously” by authorities.
PM Barzani also said in his statement that the Council of Ministers is “a place where one should serve people and resolve issues; and failure to attend the meetings and hiding from responsibility does not resolve any issues.”
The KDP and the PUK have been at loggerheads in recent months over the Region’s parliamentary elections, the transparency of the oil and local income of the provinces under their influence, and the assassination of a former PUK colonel in Erbil in October.
Despite working together in the KRG, the two parties have established control over different parts of the Region, often being referred to as the “Yellow Zone” and “Green Zone“. The KDP is dominant in Erbil and Duhok provinces, while the PUK rules Sulaimani and Halabja.
Bafel Talabani on Sunday called on the KDP to cooperate and work together to address the Kurdistan Region’s internal issues or else lose out for refusing to cooperate.
The PUK team in the government, including Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, stopped attending the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) weekly meetings months ago as a protest expressing the party’s concerns with the government.
“We [have] asked the respected ministerial team of the Kurdistan Patriotic Union to return to the meetings of the Council of Ministers,” Barzani said in a statement on Monday following a cabinet meeting, adding that they have asked the team several times to return to the meetings and respect “the confidence of people and the parliament.”
“We have also officially asked them to return but, unfortunately, they [the team] have not been allowed [by the party] to attend [the KRG meetings],” he noted.
PUK leader Bafel Talabani said Wednesday that neither the governing Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) nor the KRG have contacted the PUK’s governmental team since they started boycotting the meetings to see what their concerns are.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Thursday called on the PUK ministerial team to return to the KRG meetings, adding that their concerns have been taken “very seriously” by authorities.
PM Barzani also said in his statement that the Council of Ministers is “a place where one should serve people and resolve issues; and failure to attend the meetings and hiding from responsibility does not resolve any issues.”
The KDP and the PUK have been at loggerheads in recent months over the Region’s parliamentary elections, the transparency of the oil and local income of the provinces under their influence, and the assassination of a former PUK colonel in Erbil in October.
Despite working together in the KRG, the two parties have established control over different parts of the Region, often being referred to as the “Yellow Zone” and “Green Zone“. The KDP is dominant in Erbil and Duhok provinces, while the PUK rules Sulaimani and Halabja.
Bafel Talabani on Sunday called on the KDP to cooperate and work together to address the Kurdistan Region’s internal issues or else lose out for refusing to cooperate.
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