KDP, PUK progress on forming new cabinet ahead of key meeting

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s two ruling parties say they have made good progress in government formation talks ahead of a key meeting expected later this week.

"There is an understanding and consensus on many political and administrative issues with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan [PUK], but there is a need for further discussions that will begin this week. We expect the good news of the formation of the new parliament and cabinet under one region, one government, one armed force to be announced soon," the central committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said in a statement after a meeting on Saturday.

The PUK agrees that they have made good progress, nearly four months after the election.

“This week, a high-level delegation of the PUK and KDP will meet. Most of the work between them has been resolved and there is a good rapprochement, but there are differences on some points,” Bestun Fayeq, an advisor to the PUK leader, told Rudaw on Saturday.

In the October 20 parliamentary elections, no single party won a majority, meaning a governing coalition will have to be formed, as has historically been the case.

The KDP won 39 spots in the 100-seat legislature, followed by the PUK with 23.

Third place went to the New Generation Movement with 15 seats. The party’s leader, Shaswar Abdulwahid, has said the KDP discussed offering them positions in the government, but that without real power, New Generation has decided to remain in opposition.

Fayeq said the PUK favours a two-party coalition only. “The best government is for the PUK and KDP to form a government alone. The more parties there are, the wider the problems and misunderstandings will be,” he said.

The KDP and PUK, while rivals, have shared power in government since the establishment of the Kurdistan Region in the nineties.