“Our visit is to promote Kurdish unity in Baghdad,” KDP spokesperson Mahmood Mohammed told Rudaw on Monday. “We will visit all political parties regardless if they have a presence in Baghdad or not, and we will be visiting all those parties who have expressed their will to give strength to the Kurdish side in the Iraqi parliament.”
A delegation from the KDP on Monday visited Sulaimani where they met with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Gorran. The party also met with the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party.
According to Mohammed, the visits were less about discussing government formations and more about defusing tensions that developed during the electoral period.
“We have not talked much about the government formation during these visits,” Mohammed said, adding that they will hold more meetings and their negotiating teams will work together in the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad.
Iraqis voted in an early election last week. The KDP tied for third place with 33 seats, once again taking the position of largest Kurdish party in the Iraqi parliament, according to preliminary results released by the electoral commission.
The PUK, which won 16 seats, also emphasized the unity of Kurds in both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region, its spokesperson Amin Baba Sheikh told reporters after their meeting with the KDP delegation.
Gorran has not won any seats this time around, however, Mohammed said they remain a strong party in the Kurdistan Region with a strong support base, and they also strive for Kurdish unity in Baghdad.
The preliminary election results handed out unexpected wins and devastating blows. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr claimed victory after securing 72 spots in the 329-seat legislature. Sadr said they will work on building coalitions that are “national” and not “sectarian” in order to form a “serving government that will protect the homeland and its security, sovereignty, and the dignity of its people.”
Since the US-led invasion of 2003 and the fall of the Baath regime, political power in Iraq has been divided up between the main ethnic groups, with a Kurdish president, Shiite prime minister, and Sunni parliament speaker.
Additional reporting by Shahyan Tahseen
