ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Tensions between the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) slightly abated on Monday following a week-long strife, with the former proposing to resume stalled talks after its leader, Masoud Barzani, called for resolving mounting frictions earlier in the day.
“In light of His Excellency the President's [Barzani] initiative, we are ready for dialogue and meetings with our brothers in the PUK to resolve issues and end the political crisis in the Kurdistan Region,” Mahmoud Mohammed, the KDP spokesperson said in a statement.
He further said they are prepared to hold talks with other Kurdish political parties “so that together we can respond to the will and determination of our citizens and navigate this phase for the benefit of our people and homeland.”
Barzani said earlier today that “the interest of the people of Kurdistan is greater than any other interest or objective,” calling on the PUK to engage in dialogue with the KDP to overcome the ongoing political crisis.
“On this basis, I call upon our brothers in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to sit down together with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, resolve the issues, and put an end to the political crisis in the Kurdistan Region,” the KDP leader said.
The KDP reactivated the unattended Kurdistan Parliament last Tuesday after securing the presence of 52 lawmakers in the 100-seat legislature. Three members from the minority quota representatives, small parties, and eight lawmakers who broke ranks with the protesting parties - including from the PUK - joined the KDP’s 39 seats to narrowly achieve a quorum.
The PUK, in response, announced the withdrawal of its officials in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday, a move that could trigger a legitimacy crisis if the KDP unilaterally proceeded to appoint the Kurdistan Region’s presidency and government. The Region is divided into two de facto zones between both parties - an arrangement that requires political consensus to run the government.
PUK leader Bafel Jalal Talabani on Thursday denounced parliament's resumption as “illegal, far removed from the principles of genuine partnership, and it is an attempt to impose the will of a single party.”
Baghdad sends budget to ‘unified’ Region
Meanwhile, the KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said earlier in the day that Baghdad has decided to allocate the 2027 budget share to the Kurdistan Region as a “unified region.”
“This brings joy to us, and I hope it will to all the people of Kurdistan as well,” he added in a recorded statement shared by the KRG following premier Barzani’s meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Baghdad over the 2027 budget bill.
His statement comes as the withdrawal of the PUK from the government has resurfaced fears of backsliding into a “Two-Administrations” arrangement of sharing power between the two ruling parties. Between 1998 and 2006, the PUK administered Sulaimani and the KDP exercised jurisdiction over Erbil and Duhok, with both operating their own government and parliament while receiving a separate budget share from Baghdad.
"They appoint the President of the Region, we appoint the President of the Region; they appoint the Prime Minister, we appoint the Prime Minister; they appoint a minister, we appoint a minister,” Talabani said in his Thursday’s video statement, threatening to restore the “Two-Administrations” pattern.
Furthermore, the PUK has long complained about what it has described as unfair distribution of budgetary and revenue share between the Kurdistan Region provinces.
During parliamentary debates on the federal budget law of 2023-2025 in the Iraqi parliament, the PUK faction successfully lobbied for the inclusion of a provision that stated that if any province in the Kurdistan Region felt “discriminated against” in the distribution of funds, that province had the right to appeal directly to the Iraqi government to receive its budget share and public salaries from Baghdad.
The PUK sought to secure budgetary share and Sulaimani public employee salaries in spite of disputes between Erbil and Baghdad. The KDP has accused its rival of undermining the status of the Region and weakening its political autonomy in the face of Baghdad.
The KRG’s premier’s Monday statement reportedly came from assurances by Zaidi to ensure a centralized streamline of the Kurdistan Region’s budgetary share, thereby waning fears that Baghdad would exploit the divisions between the KDP and the PUK to weaken the Region.
