PUK Indecision Over Ministries Delays New Kurdistan Government

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The final round of negotiations to form the Kurdistan Region’s new government has been delayed by disagreements within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which remains undecided over ministerial positions for the party.

The political parties that participated in elections in September for the autonomous Kurdish parliament in northern Iraq were to hold their third and final round of talks on the formation of the new cabinet this week. But internal dithering inside the PUK over which ministries the party should settle for has delayed the process.

In the elections, the largest number of votes unsurprisingly went to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which still fell short of winning an outright majority. The KDP’s ruling partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) lost its place as the second-largest party to the rival Change Movement (Gorran), which was in the opposition but has declared its intention to be part of the next coalition government.

At a politburo meeting on Saturday, the PUK failed to reach agreement on the division of ministerial posts.

“The majority of the PUK members believe that the post of the deputy prime minister in the next cabinet should be given to their party,” said senior Imad Ahmed, a PUK leader and current deputy prime minister.

But this demand clashes with a preliminary agreement between the KDP and Gorran, which has been promised to the deputy premiership.  The KDP has rejected a previous PUK demand, proposing it be given two deputies for the prime minister in the eighth cabinet.

“The PUK has made its final decision to take part in the next government, and our participation will be based on the strategic agreement,” said Ahmed. “Our members value the post of the speaker of the Kurdish parliament, but they believe the post of the deputy prime minister in the KRG to be more important,” he added. 

Rudaw has learned that the PUK and KDP are to meet in Erbil for two days this week.

Adnan Mufti, a PUK politburo member, explained the negotiation process: “The meetings are likely to resume in the coming days and agreements on the key posts might be reached in order to select the speaker of the parliament and later the prime minister and his deputy,” he said.

“By January 27, the formation of the next KRG cabinet is likely to be presented to parliament,” Mufti added.