PUK ready to resume dialogue with KDP in 2023: official

26-12-2022
Rudaw
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is open for dialogue with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) following new year celebrations, a member of the party’s leadership told Rudaw.

“Our problems will not reach a point where we would close down on dialogue, as the PUK, we have always been open and will always be,” member of the PUK’s leadership council Salar Lalasarhad told Rudaw on Sunday.

The official said that the PUK believes if there needs to be compromises for the sake of people’s demands, “we are ready to compromise,” adding that the outstanding issues between the two parties should not pile up more.

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.

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

The Presidency of the Kurdistan Region earlier this month called on all political parties to unite and accept each other in light of serious threats facing the Region.

This came after the Kurdistan Region’s main ruling party, the KDP, had earlier this month started meeting with different political parties in a bid to defuse outstanding political tensions in the Region.
 

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