“The meeting went “smoothly and had a frank & constructive discussions and took place on a one-on-one basis which was in line with the negotiation process between KDP-PUK,” Hoshyar Zebari, KDP politburo member, had said of the PM Barzani and Talabani meeting in a post on X. 

 

After a two-year delay, and months of wrangling, the Kurdistan Region held its parliamentary elections on October 20.

 

The KDP and the PUK emerged as the first and second largest parties from the October polls, gaining 39 and 23 seats respectively. The two parties appear poised to form the government, as most of the other parties have already declared their opposition. 

  

The KDP and PUK could realistically form the next cabinet without the inclusion of any other parties as they make up more than half of the legislature. Combined with the five minority quota seats, the winners of which are already believed to be affiliated with either of the two parties, the KDP and the PUK would have 67 lawmakers on their side, allowing them to pass or deny any legislation in the parliament with a two-thirds majority.

 

The new round of talks between the two ruling parties comes as the interim speaker of the Kurdistan Region Parliament Mohammed Sulaiman from the New Generation, resigned from the post on Wednesday after a session he called for failed to meet a quorum to elect the Presidency of the Parliament, including speaker and deputy speaker.