ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Senior delegations of political rivals the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) will meet on Tuesday to discuss the latest local and regional developments. Relations between the Kurdistan Region’s two ruling parties are tense. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, first and second deputy leaders of the KDP, will represent their party in the meeting, while the PUK will be represented by its leader Bafel Talabani and Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, according to Imad Ahmed, a PUK politburo member. The meeting in Erbil province’s Pirmam marks the first between the Region’s ruling parties since the PUK’s congress in late September. They will reportedly discuss the latest developments in the Middle East, Erbil-Baghdad relations, problems paying the civil servant salaries, as well as the state of affairs between their parties. The KDP and PUK are long-time rivals that have a tenuous power-sharing agreement. Tensions between them have been high for more than a year over a variety of issues, including distribution of funds to provinces and the transparency of revenue in their areas of control. Their disagreements have been a hindrance to the functioning of the government and parliament. They were close to a reconciliation in May, before sparring in the parliament. The subsequent dissolution of the legislature put any settlement between them on hold.
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