“Yesterday’s meeting was the key to opening a door to continue meetings from now on. So this is a positive step and we shouldn’t look at it pessimistically,” PUK politburo member Latif Nerwayi told Rudaw on Monday, saying the issues between Bafel Talabani and Lahur Talabany are “complicated.”
The Sunday meeting between the rivals took place “with American mediation,” Nerwayi said, adding that “a few days ago, the Islamic republic [of Iran] as well” was engaged in helping them mend fences.
“These two friendly countries are continuously engaged as we, as the PUK, reorganize our party,” he said. “We hope the next meeting is a direct meeting held without a third party.”
The co-leaders of the PUK have been at loggerheads since early July when Bafel Talabani forced his cousin Lahur Talabany out of his position and replaced the heads of the party’s intelligence agency and counter-terrorism unit with persons loyal to himself. Bafel Talabani said the shakeup was to end abuse of party positions for personal gain.
On July 20, Lahur Talabany said that he had “temporarily” handed over power to his cousin Bafel Talabani on the condition there be an investigation into the “baseless allegations” made against him.
Lahur Talabany later announced that he decided to “seek legal recourse through the Sulaimani judiciary and ask that all the accusations against me be resolved through the courts” as his demand for an investigation went unanswered by the party, and said he was told to leave the Region.
Scores of people gathered in front of Lahur Talabany’s house amid news of attempts to drive him out of the Kurdistan Region. A warrant was also issued for his and two of his brothers’ arrest, but he was granted bail.
The PUK last week ordered Lahur Talabany “to travel outside of Iraq within three days, until two weeks after the announcement of the elections results,” saying his co-chair Bafel Talabani will “direct security forces to assure his safety until he travels.” Iraqis will go to the polls on October 10.
Nerwayi said the situation is starting to calm down. “Fortunately the stage that had a negative effect is gradually ending. If we compare yesterday to today we see now the situation is semi-normal. We are optimistic the situation will go back to normal completely in Sulaimani,” he said.
The roots of the tensions are a mix of family, political and party issues, he explained. “The issue was part family, part the party and part political. This needs a lot of time to resolve some of these issues so that the leadership can eventually make a decision.”
The PUK has an election alliance called The Kurdistan Coalition, which was headed by Lahur Talabany until he stepped down amid the power struggle and was replaced by Qubad Talabani, brother to Bafel Talabani and deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region.
Nerwayi said they are optimistic about the election as campaigning begins. “After happy news, we will organize ourselves better for election campaigning and make the Kurdistan Coalition successful.”
Additional reporting by Snwr Majid
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