US welcomes PUK return to KRG cabinet meetings

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Monday welcomed the return of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) ministers to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) cabinet meetings, a day after the party’s ministers including the deputy premier attended their first cabinet meeting since December. 

Tensions between the Kurdistan Region’s governing parties – the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) – had led to the PUK’s boycotting of weekly cabinet meetings of the KRG. Both parties have been at loggerheads over the Region’s parliamentary elections, the transparency of the oil and local income of the provinces under their influence, and the assassination of a former PUK colonel in Erbil in October. 

Qubad Talabani, deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region and senior PUK official, had also stopped attending the meetings of the Council of Ministers, headed by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, for over six months.  

“U.S. Consulate General Erbil welcomes the return of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (#PUK) ministers to Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Council of Ministers after reaching agreement with the Kurdistan Democratic (#KDP) on critical issues,” the US Consulate in Erbil said. 

“We look forward to close collaboration with the Kurdistan Regional Government (#KRG) on our shared priorities to further this progress,” it added. 

The US, a key partner of the KRG, has frequently called for both parties to resolve their disputes to address the needs of the citizens. Washington has also heavily pushed for reforms within the Peshmerga ministry and urged for brigades under control of both parties to be unified under the umbrella of the ministry. 

On Sunday, the first KRG Council of Ministers meeting involving the PUK ministers took place, where the cabinet unanimously approved a project aimed at centralizing revenues, expenditures, and salaries across the Kurdistan Region. 

Priority in expenditure will be given to paying the salaries of the Region’s civil servants, while other expenditures will be organized through “appropriate mechanisms” and in accordance with each province’s population.

The PUK’s return comes as the Kurdistan Region approaches its long-anticipated parliamentary elections. 

The Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections are set to be held on November 18, over a year removed from its originally scheduled date. The Region was set to hold the elections last year, but it was postponed due to continued disagreements between the blocs over the current electoral law and the electoral commission.

The blocs are yet to reach an understanding on this issue, which could threaten a further delay the elections process.

Last week, Barzani and Talabani met and agreed to “resolve all problems through dialogue and cooperation between all ministerial blocs within the cabinet” ahead of the PUK’s return to cabinet meetings. 

The KDP and PUK, while working together in the KRG, have established control over different parts of the Region, often being referred to as the “Yellow Zone” and “Green Zone.” The KDP is dominant in Erbil and Duhok provinces, while the PUK rules Sulaimani and Halabja.