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Kurdistan
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) co-chairs Lahur Talabany (left) and Bafel Talabani (right). Photos: Lahur Talabany and Bafel Talabani Facebook
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The politburo of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) met on Tuesday to discuss resolving internal fractures and bringing the two co-chairs to the same table, a member of the party’s politburo told Rudaw as the party assesses the results of Iraq’s parliamentary election.
“We entered the elections with a huge internal problem. If it were not for those problems, we believe we could have gotten ten more seats,” Farid Asasard told Rudaw’s Bestoon Khalid on Tuesday.
Three months before the vote, the party was rocked by a power struggle as Bafel Talabani ousted his co-president and cousin Lahur Talabany. Bafel Talabani said the shakeup was to end abuse of party positions such as smuggling and extortion. Lahur Talabany announced on July 20 that he had “temporarily” handed over power on the condition that a committee be formed to investigate “baseless allegations” made against him.
Running in the election in an alliance with the Change Movement (Gorran), the PUK won 16 seats, two fewer than it had in the previous parliament. Candidates who were close to Lahur Talabany did not succeed.
Asasard said the party’s problems “cannot be denied,” but will be solved. “We have set out a roadmap to solve this and we will try to find a proper solution,” he said.
A meeting between the two co-chairs is one of the main things they are working to achieve, he added, calling it the only possible solution.
The cousins’ feud was made public in early July when Bafel Talabani decided to change the heads of the PUK’s intelligence agency and counter-terrorism units, who were affiliated with Lahur Talabany, replacing them with people loyal to himself.
The PUK politburo in late August ordered Lahur Talabany, who headed the election alliance with Gorran, to leave the country over the vote and not return until after results were announced. The ousted leader responded saying he would not leave until his “last breath.”
The cousins were elected co-chairs of the PUK in February 2020 following years of wrangling within the party over who would succeed the late founder, Jalal Talabani, who died in 2017. Previous internal rifts have led to the creation of two breakaway parties. Gorran was established in 2009 by Nawshirwan Mustafa, a founding member of the PUK. Another leadership member, Barham Salih, formed the Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ) in 2018, but he later returned to the PUK in order to take up the post of president of Iraq.
“We entered the elections with a huge internal problem. If it were not for those problems, we believe we could have gotten ten more seats,” Farid Asasard told Rudaw’s Bestoon Khalid on Tuesday.
Three months before the vote, the party was rocked by a power struggle as Bafel Talabani ousted his co-president and cousin Lahur Talabany. Bafel Talabani said the shakeup was to end abuse of party positions such as smuggling and extortion. Lahur Talabany announced on July 20 that he had “temporarily” handed over power on the condition that a committee be formed to investigate “baseless allegations” made against him.
Running in the election in an alliance with the Change Movement (Gorran), the PUK won 16 seats, two fewer than it had in the previous parliament. Candidates who were close to Lahur Talabany did not succeed.
Asasard said the party’s problems “cannot be denied,” but will be solved. “We have set out a roadmap to solve this and we will try to find a proper solution,” he said.
A meeting between the two co-chairs is one of the main things they are working to achieve, he added, calling it the only possible solution.
The cousins’ feud was made public in early July when Bafel Talabani decided to change the heads of the PUK’s intelligence agency and counter-terrorism units, who were affiliated with Lahur Talabany, replacing them with people loyal to himself.
The PUK politburo in late August ordered Lahur Talabany, who headed the election alliance with Gorran, to leave the country over the vote and not return until after results were announced. The ousted leader responded saying he would not leave until his “last breath.”
The cousins were elected co-chairs of the PUK in February 2020 following years of wrangling within the party over who would succeed the late founder, Jalal Talabani, who died in 2017. Previous internal rifts have led to the creation of two breakaway parties. Gorran was established in 2009 by Nawshirwan Mustafa, a founding member of the PUK. Another leadership member, Barham Salih, formed the Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ) in 2018, but he later returned to the PUK in order to take up the post of president of Iraq.
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