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Kurdistan
A PUK supporter attends a campaign rally in Erbil a week ahead of the May 12 election. Photo: Mohammed Shwani / Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — After months of internal wrangling, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on Saturday announced that they will hold their long-delayed party congress on December 7, 2019.
The decision was made "unanimously" by the PUK Leadership Council on Saturday afternoon, hours after a politburo meeting in the presence of acting leader Kosrat Rasul Ali, and second deputy secretary general and Iraqi President Barham Salih.
"We are announcing today that the [PUK] Leadership Council unanimously, in a friendly atmosphere, agreed for our party congress to be held on December 7," PUK spokesman Latif Sheikh Omer revealed in a press conference on Saturday afternoon.
The leadership council will today recommend that the congress committee to "start their technical works and preparations for the congress date," Omer added.
The PUK has held only three congresses since its foundation in June 1975. The party has suffered many internal setbacks in recent years - notably the formation of the breakaway Change Movement (Gorran) in 2009 by late PUK co-founder Nawshirwan Mustafa.
On October 10, 2013, the PUK held a general assembly at their Qalachwalan retreat, lasting less than an hour. The mandate of the party leadership was extended and January 31, 2014, was proposed as the date for the fourth congress, which failed to materialize.
The death of party leader Jalal Talabani in 2017, Iraqi and Kurdistan Region parliament elections in May and September 2018 respectively, and long-time members leaving and rejoining the party have all contributed to the delay.
On January 1, 2018, the PUK leadership said it would hold its fourth congress on March 5, 2018, but party members were unable to reach a consensus on the date.
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