PM Barzani tells US: Kurdistan wants serious participation in new Iraqi gov't

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani expressed that parties from the Kurdistan Region are trying to be united in the process of the formation of the new Iraqi government in which they want “serious participation.”

Barzani received US Ambassador to Iraq Douglas Silliman in Erbil on Saturday. Both sides “reiterated the unity of all parties in order for the Iraqi political process to prevail,” according to the KRG statement.

Talks over the composition of the next Iraqi government are still underway. Naming the new president, prime minister, speaker, and council of ministers could take many weeks, as the government has ordered a full manual recount of votes following allegations of fraud.

The readout added that both sides hoped for recent issues to be resolved and not be an obstacle to the formation of the new cabinet.

Barzani told the US delegation that his government and relevant parties “are trying to have a united and serious participation in the new Iraqi government, in a way that secures political and economic stability.”

The premier is also deputy head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the largest in the Kurdistan Region.

The KDP was present at a meeting in Baghdad on Saturday attended by representatives from lists from the top seven vote-getters. A representative of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Iraqi President Fuad Masum, and Salim al-Jabouri also attended.

There was no immediate consensus reached.

Masum encouraged that the process move swiftly.

"Serious efforts should be made to enforce security and political stability. The will of voters should be respected,” he added.

The US embassy or consulate general did not immediately release a readout of the meeting with Barzani.

The performance of Shiite politicians in Iraq’s parliamentary election on May 12 close to groups which the United States has already or has wants to designate as terrorist organizations for ties to Hezbollah and the IRGC leaves the United States in a wait and see position.

“This is between our two governments, and we'll see what government they end up with,” US Defense Secretary James Mattis said on May 24. “So we'll play that forward. It's too early to tell.”

It was the first election held after the ISIS conflict.

“So wars rub the veneer off all of us and leave the passions really exposed, and now it's time for strategic thinking, for looking to the future, and determining how the Iraqi people can dictate their future,” the secretary said, “not external threats from Iran, not money from Iran, not internal threats from ISIS or other terrorists.”