Kurdistan
Bafel Talabani (left) and Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabany in a PUK meeting on November 22, 2020. Photo: Facebook / Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabany
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) members voted on Saturday to penalise some of the party's highest-ranking officials for not adhering to PUK commitments and decisions, a party source told Rudaw.
The meeting at the PUK's main headquarters in Qala Chwalan, was co-chaired by party presidents Bafel Talabani and Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabany.
“Two items were voted on in the meeting," a source who attended the meeting and wanted to remain anonymous told Rudaw on Saturday. "One was the suspension of Mala Bakhtiar, Executive Council Chief of the PUK, for publishing his book “In Lieu of Memoir”; the other was warnings given to Qubad Talabani and Rewaz Fayaq for their lack of commitment to the party’s decisions.”
Published in September, Mala Bakhtiar's 466-page book La bri birawari (In Lieu of Memoir) contained more than 200 documents, letters and photos, and cast a critical eye on the PUK's history.
It is unclear what Qubad Talabani, who is the Kurdistan Region's deputy prime minister, and parliament speaker Rewaz Fayaq did to merit their punishment.
Details of what the penalties actually entail for the three high-profile members of the party remain unclear, as the PUK has not yet released an official party statement.
The meeting also saw discussion of “the developments and situation in the Region and Baghdad, as well as civil servant salaries in the Kurdistan Region,” Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabany announced on Saturday.
Two sources talked to Rudaw about the meeting on the condition of anonymity.
“Although the items have been approved according to the majority vote, there is still dispute over whether today’s leadership council meeting and those two items should be publicized or not,” one of the two sources said.
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