Kurdistan
President Masoud Barzani (C) chairs a KDP leadership meeting on Thursday, December 18, 2025. Photo: KDP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) warned on Thursday against conflating talks on forming the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet with negotiations over Iraq’s federal government, stressing that internal Kurdistan Region issues must be resolved first before engaging Baghdad as a united front.
The message was directed at the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), with whom the KDP has been in negotiations for more than a year to form the next KRG cabinet, so far without success.
The remarks followed a KDP leadership meeting attended by party leader President Masoud Barzani, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani - who are both deputies of the KDP president.
The KDP placed responsibility for the delay on the PUK, coming just a day after the two sides resumed talks aimed at breaking the political deadlock.
The Kurdistan Region held long-delayed parliamentary elections in October 2024, in which the KDP won 39 of the 100 seats, while the PUK secured 23. With no party holding an outright majority, government formation negotiations have dragged on for months, recently stalling over disputes related to governance mechanisms and key cabinet posts.
At the center of the dispute is the interior ministry, a position traditionally held by the KDP, which the party insists on retaining.
In a statement, the KDP said it had “made extensive efforts to prevent delays in reaching an agreement ahead of Iraq’s parliamentary elections,” accusing the PUK of unnecessarily prolonging negotiations based on what it described as “misinterpretations and premature predictions” of the Iraqi election outcome.
The party added that it had warned the PUK that “circumstances before and after the Iraqi elections would not remain the same,” but claimed the PUK had already made its decision to delay talks.
Despite the tensions, the KDP stressed that its “door remains open” to negotiations, emphasizing that any agreement must reflect the results of the Kurdistan parliamentary elections and “respect the will and trust of the Kurdish people.”
Iraq government formation
Iraq held legislative elections on November 11, with final results announced in mid-November. On Sunday, the Federal Supreme Court ratified the results, saying the vote met all constitutional and legal requirements.
According to a presidential decree, Iraq’s newly elected parliament will convene its first session on December 29. The largest parliamentary bloc will then nominate a prime minister-designate, who will be tasked by the president with forming the next federal government.
The KDP stressed that Kurdish parties must be “unified and unanimous” in Baghdad during the upcoming government formation talks. It said it has already assigned a high-level delegation to engage with winning political blocs in the capital.
The party also outlined key issues it wants addressed in the next federal cabinet based on what it called a genuine “partnership, balance, and consensus.” These include the oil and gas law, financial entitlements for Kurdistan Region civil servants, Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, and amendments to Iraq’s election law.
Since the 2003 US-led invasion, Iraq’s informal ethno-sectarian power-sharing system has allocated the prime ministership to Shiites, the parliamentary speakership to Sunni Arabs, and the presidency to Kurds.
The Iraqi presidency is currently held by Abdul Latif Rashid of the PUK, while Sunni Arab politician Mahmoud al-Mashhadani serves as parliament speaker. The federal government is led by Shiite Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
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