ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Eighty percent of the demands presented by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) during government formation negotiations have been accepted by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), a senior KDP official confirmed to Rudaw on Wednesday.
"In our last meeting - according to the PUK themselves - 80 percent of their demands were met. Well, if a party believes that 80 percent of the joint program for the future phase is in place, then doesn’t the interest of the Kurdistani people require letting go of the remaining 20 percent? This is true for both of us," said Dilshad Shahab, a member of the KDP’s Central Committee.
He added that the main sticking point in the ongoing cabinet formation talks between the two ruling parties is the distribution of positions.
Shahab, who is also part of the KDP’s negotiating delegation, said the disagreements are not over a specific position, but rather over the method of distribution.
"It's not about one specific thing - it's about posts. For context: whether you calculate by vote share or parliamentary seats, or go by previous agreements - excluding the 50-50 strategic agreement - what’s currently being offered to the PUK is more than ever before," he noted.
The Kurdistan Region held its long-delayed parliamentary election nearly a year ago, in October 2024. The KDP won 39 of the 100 seats in parliament, followed by the PUK with 23. As has traditionally been the case, the two parties are working toward forming a coalition government.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, who also serves as the KDP’s first deputy leader, said during a panel at the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) Forum in Erbil on Wednesday that both parties have resolved most of the major obstacles to forming the tenth cabinet - except for party shares in the new government.
“What remains [unsolved] is the distribution of positions. I acknowledge that it has taken a long time, and I don’t want to make excuses or defend the delay. I believe we should have formed the government earlier. But we must adapt to the reality on the ground, not just to our hopes. I wish we could have formed the government in March or April, but there are still some obstacles and a lack of trust that must be addressed,” President Barzani explained.
However, PUK Leader Bafel Talabani offered a differing perspective from that of the KDP officials - particularly regarding the issue of position distribution.
Speaking at the MERI Forum on Tuesday, Talabani attributed the delay in forming the cabinet to systemic issues “rather than [the allocation of] posts.”
He said his party was engaged in “quite detailed” discussions with the KDP and emphasized the need for a government that is “fair, transparent, and focused on the real problems of Kurdistan.”
“We want partnership,” Talabani said, addressing the KDP. “We want to be involved in the decision-making process.”
For his part, Shahab stressed that the KDP is committed to activating the parliament, which has not yet convened beyond the swearing-in ceremony for the newly elected lawmakers.
"We want to respect the people’s vote. It is embarrassing for all of us that the government hasn't been formed yet - it’s embarrassing for the KDP as well. But how guilty are we in this delay, and what more should we do?" he asked.
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