The final agreement between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) will be signed in the coming days, PUK spokesman Latif Sheikh Omer told reporters on Wednesday, declining to give details of the deal.
The effect of their agreement was immediate as PUK lawmakers attended the parliamentary session Wednesday afternoon. Since being sworn in on November 6, 2018, PUK members have not attended parliament while their leadership negotiated their role in government.
The PUK joined the session that is dedicated to an amendment of the presidency law “as the first practical step for the formation of the government,” Omer explained.
The announcement that a deal was reached came just hours after KDP leader Masoud Barzani warned his party will not wait any longer for an agreement and would soon press ahead with forming a government alone.
“Now we have reached a stage where we can’t wait and there is no justification for doing so. The time for waiting has ended,” Barzani told a ceremony inaugurating a book fair in Erbil on Wednesday.
“We hope the government is formed by all the winning parties. But frankly, from today onwards, we will not wait any longer. We will form the government soon,” he added.
Efforts to form the new cabinet dragged on for months as rival parties squabbled over their share of power in the new government.
PUK’s Omer said the agreement was reached after “intensified meetings” and a conversation between Barzani and acting PUK leader Kosrat Rasul.
“This afternoon, following a friendly phone call between Masoud Barzani and Kosrat Rasul, both sides reached a joint understanding for the PUK’s position in the Kurdistan Region’s governance system,” he said.
The KDP emerged as the biggest party in the September 30 parliamentary election securing 45 seats – just shy of an outright majority in the 111-seat chamber.
The PUK secured 21 seats and the Change Movement (Gorran) 12.
The three parties may now have achieved consensus on who will hold the top jobs and ministries of government.
Mosul ferry disaster
Speaking in Erbil, Barzani also commented on the recent ferry disaster in Mosul, in which more than a hundred people died when their boat capsized in the Tigris River on March 21.
“This disaster was the result of bad situations in Mosul along with its system and bad security conditions, especially after its liberation,” he said, describing the incident as “a national and humanitarian disaster which shook our hearts.”
Barzani said Mosul was “left with an unknown fate after its liberation,” adding “the focus was unfortunately on how the money allocated for the reconstruction of Mosul should be distributed and how the parties should distribute the money rather than spend it on services and the reconstruction of Mosul.”
Mosul was under the rule of the Islamic State group (ISIS) for three years. The battle to retake the city left much of it in ruins.
Despite its territorial defeat, Barzani warned ISIS still poses a threat to the region.
Ayad Allawi, a prominent Iraqi politician who was prime minister of the post-2003 transitional government, also attended the ceremony.
Echoing Barzani’s warning, Allawi said: “Iraq has seen military victory [over ISIS], but we haven’t fully achieved peace yet. There is still no peace between the main parties of Iraq.”
Allawi said Iraq has one chance remaining to overcome its challenges.
“It surely is the final chance for Iraq to succeed and for Iraqis to achieve their rights without discrimination and marginalization,” he said.
“This government should stabilize Iraq.”
Erbil-Baghdad relations
Barzani struck an optimistic tone about Erbil-Baghdad relations, which collapsed over independent oil sales and the Kurdistan Region’s referendum to break away from federal Iraq in 2017. He credited Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi with salvaging the relationship.
“Having Adil Abdul-Mahdi as prime minister provides a new opportunity and this might be the final opportunity. That is why this opportunity shouldn’t be wasted,” Barzani said.
“We will seriously coordinate and cooperate with his Excellency Adil in order to resolve all the problems, not only problems between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad, rather all the problems concerning every citizen,” he said.
Barzani also called for the constitution to be implemented and for Iraq to be truly democratic and federal.
