Samir Hawrami, the media advisor to Talabani, told PUK Media that the Council had “officially” nominated Talabani for the position. Talabani, himself, did not immediately comment on the news which has been widely speculated.
Talabani, 41, won the most votes of any party list leader in the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary election on September 30, 2018. The UK-educated politician and son of late PUK founder Jalal Talabani campaigned on modernizing and streamlining the government.
Mustafa, 69, is a veteran Peshmerga commander who served through the conflict with ISIS. Germany, the United Kingdom and United States are leading efforts to professionalize and train a more diverse Kurdish force that is not so politically-aligned. The office of the president officially commands all security forces in the Kurdistan Region.
Kosrat Rasul, 67 and also a PUK commander, had served as a vice president until Masoud Barzani’s presidential term ended in November 2017 and the office’s powers were delegated to government by the parliament. Rasul has served as acting PUK leader until the party can hold its next congress.
Fayeq, a 42-year-old woman, heads the Finance and Economic Affairs Committee in the parliament. She has stressed the need for KRG to have a modern model of budgeting that is “more transparent, honest and detailed in order to be able to prevent corruption.”
The party also announced the nomination of Shorash Hajji to lead the Ministry of Peshmerga, Dara Rasheed for the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and Hama Saeed for the Ministry of Culture.
The announcements came after PUK’s Leadership Council met on Saturday. It was attended by Rasul and other key members like Iraqi President Barham Salih.
The news signals the KRG and political parties are now closer to forming a new cabinet headed by PM-Designate Masrour Barzani. He was tasked by his predecessor and the President of Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani.
Parliament delayed its summer recess, scheduled for July 1, for 15 days on Sunday to buy more time for Masrour Barzani and the political parties to offer candidates to the legislature.
Latif Sheikh Omar PUK’s spokesperson appeared for a press conference later on Saturday in Sulaimani. He said the nominees will submit their CVs to PM-Designate Barzani by Sunday.
The PUK had previously stated that they would not join the cabinet unless they reach a final agreement over Kirkuk with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). On Wednesday, the PUK after meeting with a KDP delegation said they would nominate Tayb Jabar, a 65-year-old engineer, for the strategic governorship.
Asked about the issue, Omar said “Yes, we have reached an agreement.”
Barzani’s KDP holds 45 seats in the 111-seat parliament.
The PUK won 21 seats in last year’s election to reclaim its status as the second-largest party in the Kurdistan Region, beating out the Change Movement (Gorran) which won 12. Gorran, also expected to be given a vice presidency, is planning to announce its candidates on Sunday.
Nechirvan Barzani, the new president of the Kurdistan Region, thanks members of his cabinet in the previous Kurdistan Regional Government on July 6, 2019, in Erbil, Kurdistan Region. Photo: Rudaw TV
In a farewell ceremony with the KRG cabinet in Erbil, newly-elected President Nechirvan Barzani said he was glad to hear that the PUK has nominated "my brother" Qubad Talabani as deputy PM.
"I really want to talk about the role of my dear brother Mr Qubad [Talabani] as deputy prime minister for all his work during this period. I thank him and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's team for collectively remaining [in the cabinet] and to face all difficulties," he remarked.
Nechirvan Barzani added that his cabinet would not have "prevailed" if they had not been working as a team.
The two politicians from rival parties worked closely together to hold the government together through a budget crisis with Baghdad, global drop in oil prices, the conflict with the Islamic State (ISIS), and the hosting of 1.8 million Iraqi IDPs and Syrian refugees.
Translation by Karwan Faidhi Dri
