ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Bafel Talabani and Lahur Sheikh Jangi were elected co-leaders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) by the party’s General Leadership Council, sources told Rudaw. However, Mustafa Chawrash, the council’s interim head, said the party is yet to announce the winner.
The news follows years of wrangling over who would succeed party founder Jalal Talabani.
Rudaw’s reporter in the PUK stronghold of Sulaimani was told by two sources that the young Talabanis, who are cousins, were elected in a majority vote.
However, Chawrash told a press conference following the meeting that the result is yet to be announced.
“Whosoever did this [alleged the news] was wrong, and [TV] channels should not rush. We are not ashamed to announce any decision we make at the right time,” Chawrash said.
Chawrash further added that no one has been elected as a co-chair.
On December 21, following years of delay, the PUK finally held a party congress, the first since the death of Jalal Talabani in 2017.
Party rivalries and a host of other issues had prevented the congress from taking place.
The PUK congress also voted to form the Supreme Political Council, which is headed by Kosrat Rasul Ali, the party’s former acting leader.
The Supreme Political Council performs a mostly advisory role, but has veto power over certain decisions and acts as the PUK’s official representation.
Lahur is the incumbent head of the PUK’s counterterrorism forces and is the nephew of Jalal Talabani, who served as Iraq’s president from 2005 to 2014. Bafel is the late president’s son.
Some factions had hoped to prevent the party becoming a family dynasty.
The PUK was founded in 1975 after breaking away from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The two parties fought a long civil war in the 1990s before agreeing to share power in a united administration. They however both retain their own Peshmerga units and geographical areas of influence.
This is a developing story...
