ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The formation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet, joint work in Baghdad and the normalization of Kirkuk's situation is bringing together top leaders from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) for a meeting on Tuesday in Erbil.


The meeting is at the request of the PUK to focus on the formation of the KRG, coordination with Baghdad, and the future of the governorship in Kirkuk.

This is the second meeting between the two largest parties since the election on September 30.

KDP deputy Nechirvan Barzani and PUK acting leader Kosrat Rasul led their delegations.

The KDP is seeking the post of speaker in the Kurdistan Region parliament. The Change Movement (Gorran) held the post following the 2013 election, but resigned following disputes with the KDP.

Member of the PUK politburo Mala Bakhtiar wrote in a personal statement on Monday that the KDP cannot rule without the PUK despite the latter not able win more sway with the electorate.

“Neither can KDP rule Kurdistan through majoritarian politics, nor can the PUK through populism weaken the KDP,” he said.

The KDP won 45 seats in the parliamentary election on September 30. The PUK won 21. Both are marked increases from 2013.

“The amount of the votes of the KDP and PUK didn’t change the fact that neither KDP without PUK nor PUK without KDP can form a majority government,” added Bakhtiar.

Despite the KDP being 11 seats shy of an absolute majority, Bakhtiar believes that is not in the interest of the Kurdistan Region.

“Those in the KDP who thought if they garnered twice as many votes as the PUK and were to befriend the quota lists, they could kick the PUK out of the circle have failed," he explained.

He added that the PUK's "populist trend" was naive and has ben hit by a "stone of real political equations."
The meeting comes after KDP leadership was expected to visit Sulaimani to meet with the PUK and several other parties.

Rudaw