ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the top winner in legislative elections six months ago, says the process of forming the new Kurdish government is in the final stages, but warns it is ready to cut deals with smaller parties if the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Change Movement (Gorran) fail to compromise on security posts.

"The five parties had their own demands and programs and we agreed on a national government,” said KDP spokesman Jaffari Ibrahim, who stressed that his party seeks a broad-based government in the interests of greater democracy.

“As for the posts, Gorran and PUK have not been satisfied completely, that’s why the issue of government formation is delayed," he said.

Ibrahim added that the negotiations have picked up between the KDP, PUK and Gorran, after the PUK and other Islamic parties denounced the KDP and accused it of dragging its feet over the issue.

“KDP failed in the process of forming the government. It is a negative point for KDP that it could not form the government during the last six months,” said Dilshad Abdulrahman, advisor to the PUK politburo. “There is a dilemma facing the formation of the government that requires wise diplomacy to overcome the difficulties. But it is clear to us that KDP cannot provide that,” he added.

The Kurdistan Region held legislative polls in September, in which more than 24 political parties contested for 111 parliamentary seats. The polls marked the first power shift in Kurdistan for decades, after the KDP remained the top vote getter but the PUK lost its traditional number two spot to Gorran.

The new political landscape has proved hard for the PUK, which has refused to recognize the new reality that rival Gorran is now the more powerful party. In order to be accepted as an equal partner with the KDP in the new cabinet, the PUK has championed its past political and armed struggle and even warned that any new government would not have influence in Sulaimani province, the PUK’s traditional stronghold.

Rudaw sources say that the months long horse-trading between the rival parties has ended, following agreement on a new mechanism to distribute the contentious security portfolios. They say that the KDP has agreed to give Gorran the ministry of Peshmarga, and that PUK would have the posts of general security, the assistant for Kurdistan Region president for Peshmarga affairs and the deputy of Peshmarga ministry, while KDP retains the ministry of interior.

In a speech in Erbil, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani said that the government formation would be announced before the Iraqi legislative and Kurdistan Region provincial elections scheduled for the end of this month.

In response to the PUK’s accusations, the KDP spokesman blamed the PUK for not being serious about the cabinet formation. In the meantime, he commended Gorran’s efforts.

“After all the meetings we have had with PUK, they still have not submitted the list of their candidates for ministerial posts,” said the KDP official, who rejected the PUK’s accusation. “Gorran has been very serious in the process of government formation and submitting the list of their candidates for ministerial posts,” he added.

According to Fazil Mirani, the general secretary of the KDP, his party’s negotiation team, led by KRG Premier Nechirvan Barzani, would meet with the other parties next week to finalize the government formation. “We will resume the negotiations next week and will explain our stance on Monday,” said Mirani.

Previously, Gorran was demanding the posts of the deputy prime minister and one of the security portfolios. It dropped its demand for the deputy premier post in favor of the PUK, hoping to expedite the government formation, but has refused to give up the interior or Peshmarga ministries.

As public pressure mounts on KDP, it has threatened to form a majority-based government, meaning that either Gorran or PUK or potentially both would be excluded from the 8th Kurdish cabinet. But it has insisted it would do its best to include everyone in the KDP-led government, due to what it calls “internal and external challenges” facing the Kurdistan Region.

"The issue of security is very important. There are internal and external threats on Kurdistan Region. We are wondering how a winning party should not have one of the posts that are related to security of the Kurdistan Region,” Ibrahim noted.

"The KDP leadership has stressed that the government formation has to be expedited. If not, the KDP would form a majority government. We cannot wait forever for PUK and Gorran. If they don't agree, we will form the majority government and it’s not necessary that we reach a deal," he stressed.

Rudaw