Kurdish power-sharing deal cracks as one of two rival parties quits northern Iraq’s government
Bafel Talabani said the party will leave the coalition and may form a parallel administration after lawmakers elected a new parliament speaker.
- On Thursday, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan withdrew from the regional government, with leader Bafel Talabani calling the KDP-led administration "Failed" and threatening to form a parallel administration.
- The announcement followed a regional parliament session Wednesday, which the PUK boycotted over disputes about government position allocations; 52 of 100 lawmakers proceeded with the vote.
- In October 2024 parliamentary elections, the KDP won 39 seats and the PUK 23, with the PUK forming an alliance with the 15-seat New Generation party to challenge cabinet formation.
- The PUK's withdrawal risks reviving the region's historical division, which sparked a 1994 civil war, as the parties never fully integrated their security forces after the 2006 reunification.
- Recent progress in unifying security units under the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs is now at risk, with the PUK maintaining ties to Iran and the KDP to Turkey amid regional instability.
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30 Articles
Iraqi Kurdish leader Talabani leaves regional government
ERBIL — The political conflict and administrative rift between the two main power centers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have intensified, with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the main Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, on Thursday withdrawing from the regional government..PUK President Bafel Talabani announced the decision in a video message to supporters late Thursday, sharply criticizing the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KD…
Party leader Bafel Talabani denounces 'failed government,' accuses rival KDP of undermining democracy and warns against unilateral appointments
Bafel Talabani, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party in Iraq, announced that they have decided to withdraw from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and will not recognize any decisions made by the KRG parliament.
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