Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has called on the members of the Kirkuk provincial council to convene their first meeting on Thursday at 1 pm at the provincial council headquarters. This appeal comes amid ongoing negotiations to form a local government, which have yet to yield a consensus among the winning parties.

"We call on the political forces concerned to implement the points agreed upon in the political talks, and we will complete the dialogue in the coming days," stated PM al-Sudani on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This request follows two prior meetings chaired by al-Sudani involving the victorious parties in Kirkuk. Despite these efforts, an agreement on the formation of a local government remains elusive, and the provincial council has yet to hold its inaugural meeting.

"The Iraqi federal government has succeeded in holding provincial council elections, including in Kirkuk, which have not been held since 2005. We also supervised several rounds of talks between the parties that won provincial council seats, and a committee has been formed for this purpose," al-Sudani added.

According to the law, February 5th was the deadline for the Kirkuk provincial council to meet at the request of the governor. Despite this, the council has not yet convened.

Al-Sudani highlighted that the ongoing negotiations have resulted in an agreement to form a coalition government for Kirkuk, encompassing all the winning parties. This political agreement addresses fundamental principles across political, administrative, economic, and cultural dimensions.

The council meeting requires a simple majority of nine members to proceed.

More than six months after the elections, Kirkuk remains without a governor due to political disputes among Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen factions, each seeking to secure the governorship.