KDP to turn page, resume negotiation with parties

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s ruling party on Thursday announced that it was looking to resume negotiations with other Kurdish parties and resolve disputes with rivals.

Speaking to a number of reporters, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) spokesperson said that the party is open for negotiations with all Kurdish parties, including rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

“We are turning a new page for negotiations and understanding with political parties,” Mahmood Mohammed said, emphasizing that the PUK is among the parties they want to negotiate and settle disputes with.

“We have previously initiated, and have tried to always have the door for negotiations open,” Mohammed added, stressing that while the KDP considers other parties as political rivals, there is common ground between all when it comes to national interests.

The KDP spokesperson’s press conference came at the same time as PUK head Bafel Talabani was hosting the leaders of different political parties in Sulaimani’s Dukan town to discuss cooperation and common issues.

The Kurdistan Region’s two main ruling parties, the KDP and the PUK, have for decades disagreed over a variety of issues, sometimes leading to major unrests in the Region.

Despite working together in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the two parties have established control over different parts of the Region, often being referred to as the “Yellow Zones and Green Zones. “ The KDP is dominant in Erbil and Duhok provinces, while the PUK rules Sulaimani and Halabja.

The PUK has accused the KRG of favoring Erbil and providing fewer funds for Sulaimani. Both parties have accused one another of handing over only part of the local income to the KRG.

Despite many thinking that the parties agreeing on electing a PUK candidate for the Iraqi presidency last month hinted at the parties getting closer to a common ground, in an exclusive interview with Rudaw earlier this month, Talabani said that their relationship with the KDP is not in its best position.

 “I feel like there is a lack of understanding between us and the friends at KDP. At first, I suspected a hand being behind it. I still believe there is a hand behind it,” said Talabani, without alluding to anyone in particular.

Talabani claimed that he was searching for “a cure” to his party’s pending issues with the KDP, calling the situation between the two parties “wrong”, and describing the current governing system in the Kurdistan Region as “a dual administration.”