No political ties remain between KDP, PUK amid government formation deadlock: Official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Political relations between Kurdistan Region’s two ruling parties -  the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) - have effectively collapsed, a senior PUK official said Sunday. This comes amid a continuing impasse over forming the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) next cabinet.

“Currently, there is no political relationship between the PUK and the KDP," Luqman Wardi, a member of the PUK leadership, told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman on Sunday, adding that: "There is no dialogue, except when an international or regional power intervenes between us.”

The political deadlock between the two parties comes as they have failed to form the Region’s tenth cabinet, even 18 months after the elections were held.

The Kurdistan Region held its parliamentary elections in October 2024, in which the KDP won 39 of the 100 seats and the PUK secured 23. With no party achieving a majority, negotiations to form a new cabinet have stalled for months, largely due to disagreements over key political posts and governing arrangements.

Kurdish opposition parties - the New Generation Movement, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, and the National Stance Movement - hold 15, 4, and 2 seats, respectively, while the Kurdistan Region Alliance and the Change Movement each hold one seat. Five additional seats are reserved for minority quotas.

Wardi said PUK President Bafel Talabani has made repeated efforts to reach an agreement with KDP leadership, including multiple meetings with KDP leader Masoud Barzani.

“Just before the recent regional complications, President Bafel sat with Mr. Masoud three times. In two of those meetings, Mr. [President] Nechirvan Barzani and [Deputy Prime Minister] Qubad Talabani also participated, but the KDP was not ready for an agreement,” Wardi claimed, adding that Talabani had visited Barzani “16 times” in total to try to resolve the disputes.

He also pointed to Iraq's recent parliamentary voting, saying the PUK supported the KDP candidate for deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament in late December, but that the KDP did not back the PUK nominee for the presidency of Iraq this month.

Wardi accused the KDP of seeking to dominate the political landscape due to its larger seat share.

“Now, we and the New Generation Movement have an understanding and together we hold 38 seats against the KDP’s 39. Therefore, it is time to rectify the balance of power and for government posts to be distributed fairly,” he said.

On calls for snap elections, Wardi dismissed the idea as ineffective.

“Even if three more elections are held, the result remains the same: we must sit at the negotiation table,” he said.

His remarks come as the KDP has repeatedly floated the idea of early legislative elections.

Ahmed Kani, a member of the KDP’s Central Committee, said on Thursday that “early elections might be the solution” to the ongoing impasse, suggesting that the results could differ this time, hinting that his party could perform stronger.

Despite the political breakdown, Wardi said the PUK remains open to renewed talks, showing willingness to return to negotiations with what he described as a “new negotiation paper.”

Hiwa Nasradin, Deputy Head of the Kurdistan Parliament’s Diwan, told Rudaw on Thursday that the dissolution of the parliament could only occur under specific conditions, including failure to elect parliamentary leadership within constitutional deadlines or mass resignations.