Bafel Talabani promises to renew PUK after ‘golden victory’

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The older son of the late founder of the PUK in a congratulatory message, promised that he would renew the party and strive for a prosperous life 

"I am greeting every single one of you who cared about your PUK at a historical moment and led it to the horizon of a golden victory," Bafel Talabani said in a Facebook post.

According to preliminary official results, the PUK won in Sulaimani by a large margin, reclaiming the province from Gorran who has had the majority since 2009 when the party first emerged.

The result in Sulaimani in the May 12 election shocked all the parties, who have accused the PUK of fraud. Six parties – Gorran, Komal, KIU, CDJ, IKM, and the Communist Party – have rejected the result and called for a complete do-over.

The PUK suffered a number of blows over the past year, including the death of found Jalal Talabani, who was the president of Iraq from 2006-2014, the departure of the party's second deputy leader Barham Salih who formed his CDJ party, and the loss of the oil-rich Kirkuk to the Iraqi forces, a party-stronghold.

Bafel Talabani pledged a renewed party.

"I am promising you that we will rebuild the PUK in a way much more united and higher than the past with a brotherly congress to once again gather all of us under the umbrella of the martyrs’ party," he wrote.

The question of the PUK congress has been a hot topic since the death of Jalal Talabani in early October 2017. The PUK has repeatedly delayed setting a date for the congress in which it will select a new leader. 

Bafel Talabani added he was "promising" to ramp up his efforts to restore prosperity to the people.

Bafel Talabani does not hold a senior post within the PUK. Kosrat Rasul is the party's top leader. 

The Kurdistan Region is expected to hold regional parliamentary elections on September 30 as requested by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.