KDP and PUK ‘meet in the middle’ after months of dispute, delay

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) agreed on a range of issues after months of disputes on Friday. A formal agreement will be signed in an official ceremony upon the approval of PUK leaders.

“With the efforts of all sides, we managed to resolve most of the issues before, and today, we solved what remained through consensus,” the KDP’s Mahmoud Mohammed told reporters in a joint conference in Sulaimani with PUK spokesperson Saadi Pira.

Issues related to the formation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Kirkuk’s governorship, and the presidency were resolved, revealed Mohammed.

PUK leaders will meet on Saturday to make a final decision on the draft agreement. The signing of the agreement will take place during a ceremony.

The KDP hopes this agreement will greatly benefit the KRG, just like their 2005 “Strategic Agreement.”

Mohammed denied that KDP fully agreed to PUK’s package, saying neither side fully accepted the each other’s, but they met in the middle.

“We had a package, and they had another package. As a result of discussions, negotiations, additions and subtractions, we reached a joint formula, a joint viewpoint between KDP and PUK,” added Mohammed.

A government has to be established to resolving main issues with Baghdad and to establish unity at home, argued Mohammed.

For his part, Pira said “the agreement is holy, not the location” when referring to an announced meeting of the Kirkuk Provincial Council. Erbil has been floated as a possible location because the KDP refuses to return to what it deems to be the “occupied” city of Kirkuk.

All issues have been resolved, including the KRG, Kirkuk and the presidency, Mohammed announced.

The Kirkuk Provincial Council will ultimately decide the location for the meeting. Kirkuk acting Governor Rakan Saeed al-Jabouri has said the meeting must take place in the province to be legitimate.

A new governor shall be appointed through “consensus” between the parties and components of Kirkuk, Pira added.

“We each had our packages and opinions. But [now] we are talking about how we could work together in the future. Hence, it’s neither their fully their package nor ours. We met in the middle,” said Pira

KDP and PUK “consensus” is essential for normalizing Kirkuk’s situation, claimed Pira. PUK will participate in the Kurdistan parliament meeting set for Monday.

KDP is set to meet with the Change Movement (Gorran) on Saturday in a bid to finalize their agreement.

This could signal the end of the deadlock over KRG formation, which has stalled since Kurdistan held a delayed parliamentary election on September.

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