Kurdistan
The KDP and the PUK held a high-level meeting in Erbil's Pirmam on November 7, 2023. Photo: Handout
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Senior delegations of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) held a high-level meeting in Erbil’s Pirmam on Tuesday during which they discussed the need for further cooperation to resolve the Kurdistan Region’s pressing issues.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, first and second deputy leaders of the KDP, respectively, represented their party in the meeting, whereas the PUK was represented by its leader Bafel Talabani and Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani.
Following the meeting which lasted for over five hours, the two ruling parties released a joint statement, stressing their willingness to cooperate on resolving the ongoing challenges facing the Region.
"Both sides stressed the need for coordination and cooperation, and the need to gather the strength and capacity of all political parties to protect the entity of the Kurdistan Region, and to formulate a joint strategy that is compatible with the course of events and changes and addresses the obstacles,” read the joint statement.
The security developments of the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and the rest of the Middle East, the need to support the efforts of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in financing civil servant salaries, and the need to find common ground to serve the interests of the Region were also discussed during the meeting
President Barzani told reporters that the two parties had “a good meeting,” and that they will continue to hold meetings in hopes of reaching a mutual understanding.
The meeting in Pirmam marked the first between the Region’s ruling parties since the PUK’s congress in late September.
The KDP and PUK are long-time rivals that have a tenuous power-sharing agreement. Tensions between them have been high for more than a year over a variety of issues, including distribution of funds to provinces and the transparency of revenue in their areas of control.
Their disagreements have been a hindrance to the functioning of the government and parliament. They were close to a reconciliation in May, before sparring in the parliament. The subsequent dissolution of the legislature put any settlement between them on hold.
The Kurdistan Region’s civil servants went unpaid for around 90 days before a deal was struck between Baghdad and Erbil in mid-September, in which the federal government agreed to lend the KRG 2.1 trillion Iraqi dinars to pay the salaries for three months.
Teachers in Sulaimani and Halabja provinces have been on strike for the past seven weeks, in protest of the KRG’s failure to provide salaries on time.
Civil servants are yet to receive their salaries for the months of September and October.
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