SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Gorran have made progress on the issues of reactivating parliament and the independence referendum after direct talks on Friday as part of intensive efforts to resolve differences between the parties ahead of the historic vote on independence.
Gorran’s Gulstan Saeed, who attended the talks, told reporters after the hours-long meeting that the two parties’ views were “close” on four of the five points her party had raised last month as part of a framework to reactivate the parliament.
No final decisions were made, though, she said, explaining that is up to their leadership.
The two agreed on establishing a Council for Oil Revenues Fund, amending the Kurdistan presidency law, reactivating the parliament, and canceling or changing the salary cuts made as part of the Region’s austerity measures, Saeed said.
They were not in agreement on the issue of the independence referendum. Gorran had called for postponing the vote until the timing and conditions are right. But the PUK, like the KDP, is determined to hold the vote later this month.
Saeed said that it was a “success” for Gorran to secure PUK's support on all their demands but the referendum.
Her comments suggest that Gorran is ready to make compromises on the referendum issue. She said they have called for a “political kitchen” whereby the five main parties of the Kurdistan Region can meet and seek solutions to the many problems facing the Kurdistan Region.
She said the five parties should work out a “political agreement” before reopening the parliament so that "peace and democracy" are upheld.
On the issue of the parliament, Saeed explained that the legislature should be allowed to resume normal functions of monitoring, passing laws, and approving the annual budget. She singled out the issue of the presidency as a law the parliament must be able to discuss and amend.
Meanwhile, PUK’s politburo member and spokesperson Saadi Pira met on Friday with Ali Bapir, leader of the Islamic Group (Komal) in Erbil. The two parties said it was an “unofficial” meeting. The two parties will meet on Saturday to discuss the same issues that were discussed with Gorran.
Pira said the aim of PUK’s meetings is to reach “consensus” in the Kurdistan Region.
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12:46 p.m.
SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is on a mission to hold final talks with other parties to reactivate the suspended parliament of the Kurdistan Region. The party met with the Gorran Movement on Friday and is scheduled to meet with the Islamic Group (Komal) on Saturday.
Both Gorran and Komal have so far refused to agree to a plan introduced by the PUK and its strategic ally the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to reopen the Kurdish legislature, and have not taken part in any meetings related to the Kurdish independence talks.
Saadi Pira, the PUK spokesperson, told Rudaw Thursday that their message is to give Gorran and Komal “final notice” that the parliament will be reactivated. He said they want these two parties to come on board.
The PUK began the final push with a meeting in Sulaimani with Gorran based on a set of recommendations passed by the party’s leadership on Thursday that importantly called for the reactivation of parliament at the earliest time.
A senior PUK delegation is also to hold talks with the KDP in the coming days, Jamil Hawrami, a member of the PUK delegation that met with Gorran, told Rudaw on Friday.
Mahmud Mohammed, the KDP’s spokesperson told Rudaw that they have not yet set a date for a meeting between them and the PUK, but added that it will take place next week in order to “reactivate the parliament without any conditions before the referendum.”
The Kurdistan Region will hold a referendum on independence on September 25, followed by presidential and parliamentary elections on November 1.
Gorran, the second-largest party in the Kurdistan Region has already put forward a list of demands to the KDP last month which included postponing the referendum, something the KDP has said it will not negotiate. The two held direct talks afterwards, but no progress was made.
Relations between the KDP and Gorran deteriorated in October 2015, mainly over the term of President Masoud Barzani, which expired in August but was extended in a controversial court ruling. The KDP blocked the parliament, chiefly its speaker who a Gorran member, and sacked Gorran ministers from the cabinet.
Abdulstar Majid, a senior Komal member, told Rudaw that the PUK and Komal meeting will most probably be held on Saturday.
Majid said they are going to exchange their views, without giving more details.
PUK, Gorran, Komal, and the Kurdistan Islamic Union, all officially members of the Kurdish coalition government, say that the referendum on independence should have a legal mandate from the parliament. The KDP, on the other side, maintains that the vote does not need the mandate, but at the same time is of the view that the results of the vote will be “more valid” if Kurdistan’s legislature approved it.
The PUK has been playing a mediatory role between the KDP and Gorran, but have also expressed that their patience is limited.
One option is to reactivate the parliament without Gorran and Komal. While the KDP likes to go for this choice, the PUK have worked hard to avoid such a scenario that is expected to upset its base.
Gorran, a PUK offshoot, is largely based in Sulaimani, a stronghold for the two parties. With parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for November 1, the PUK is fearful that it will pay dearly in the elections if it seen as aligning with KDP at the expense of Gorran.
The PUK and Gorran last time met in Sulaimani earlier this week with no final agreement.
Begard Talabani, a member of the PUK leadership and head of the party’s parliamentary faction in Kurdistan, told her party’s media that Friday’s talks were a continuation of the meetings.
Pira, of the PUK, is also expected to meet with the Komal leader Ali Bapir later today in preparation for their meeting tomorrow.
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