ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) ministerial team on Monday struck at the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) decision to exempt themselves from ministerial meetings and accused them of “running away” from responsibility amid an ongoing political rift between the top Kurdish parties. “Not participating in some government meetings and leaving WhatsApp groups, as well as not being present to solve problems and discussing them in Council of Ministers meetings, means running away from legal, political, and administrative responsibility,” the KDP’s statement reads. Despite the dig at the Sulaimani-based party, the KDP urged them to return to the meetings and refrain from destabilizing the situation further. “We ask you to not be an obstacle to the decisions of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and in return, you should cooperate and return to your jobs. Then, the responsibility will be evident,” the KDP ministerial statement continued. The latest statement from the Kurdistan Region’s ruling party was in response to remarks from the PUK on Sunday referring to the current KRG cabinet as the “worst” in the Region’s history during their response to an earlier statement from Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. “We have complained and taken stances against the actions and management of this cabinet headed by Masrour Barzani. Our complaints are the complaints of the people,” the PUK said, adding “unfortunately, this cabinet has been the worst in the history of Kurdistan’s governance.” The PUK proceeded to exit the KRG Council of Ministers’ WhatsApp group and withdraw from participation in government meetings. The Kurdistan Region’s two main ruling parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the PUK, have for decades disagreed over a variety of issues, sometimes leading to major unrest in the Region. Despite working together in the KRG, the two parties have established control over different parts of the Region, often being referred to as the “Yellow Zone” and “Green Zone.“ The KDP is dominant in Erbil and Duhok provinces, while the PUK rules Sulaimani and Halabja. In his statement, Barzani denied the PUK’s claim that a “blockade” has been imposed on the border of Sulaimani, saying that oil revenues of the Kurdistan Region and the “occasional” budget received from Baghdad are distributed equally among the Region’s provinces. The PUK quickly responded to Barzani’s remarks, saying that a blockade has been placed on Sulaimani “by design” and that the non-payment of the province’s financial entitlements and salary delays of its civil servants are a part of that blockade. When Barzani called for new parliamentary elections as soon as possible, the PUK supported his remarks and said they would be willing to hold new polls once the elections law was amended. The KDP’s ministerial team, however, said that “elections have their own procedures and laws” and added that the PUK was involved in the passing of such laws. “You cannot find excuses for the fear that your votes are too low. Where in the world is there a party that becomes an obstacle to a democratic process?” Members of the Kurdistan Region’s parliament in October voted by a majority to extend the current four-year term of the legislature by one year, after disagreements between the blocs over the current elections law and the electoral commission prevented the carrying out of new elections. The session was boycotted by opposition blocs, who deemed the proposed bill “illegal.”
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