ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzan and Bafel Talabani, president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) hailed their Sunday meeting in Erbil to discuss the formation of the tenth cabinet as “very positive,” with both sides hoping the government to be formed as soon as possible.
Prime Minister Barzani said they have held “two very positive and good meetings” with PUK’s Talabani to discuss “matters related to the people of the Kurdistan Region and the region,” as a whole.
“There were very good developments and very good understandings on most of the subjects, and we hope [technical] teams with the same spirit can reach a complete agreement on the formation of the government soon,” PM Barzani said.
Today’s meeting marked the second of its kind between Talabani and Barzani ever since the October elections were held in the Kurdistan Region.
PUK leader Talabani for his part hailed the meeting as “very, very good.”
“We agreed on a number of strategic things that are of high importance to our nation,” Talabani said, hoping for the talks to continue.
“The objective for both of us is to form a government to serve our nation.”
The New Region understands that PM Barzani, who is also deputy president of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Talabani discussed the matter of the distribution of posts and the two parties' shares in the next cabinet in today’s meeting.
The KDP and PUK emerged as the main parties from the October 20 parliamentary elections, 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.
An official from the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) told reporters last week that there are no more obstacles hindering the formation of the next KRG cabinet, adding that the process should be completed "soon”.
Ali Hussein, head of the KDP’s Sulaimani and Halabja organizing bureau said that the two ruling parties have addressed most of the outstanding issues between them and that there is a good understanding between the two sides, adding “We believe the government will be formed soon.”
In early February, the KDP and the PUK held what they called “the last meeting” of their joint negotiation committee for talks on forming the next cabinet, announcing that they had struck “initial agreements.”
The Kurdistan Region’s newly-elected members of parliament were sworn in early December, officially commencing their legislative duties. By law, the lawmakers were supposed to elect a speaker during the first session, but the vote was not carried out due to failure to reach the legal quorum.
Updated at 04:37 pm with comments from PM Barzani and PUK leader Talabani
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