ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on Tuesday announced reaching a “final draft” outlining upcoming steps towards forming the next Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet.

The KDP delegation was headed by politburo member Hoshyar Zebari, while Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani led the PUK delegation. The meeting was held in the PUK’s politburo office in Erbil.

The parties described the meeting as “positive”.

“In the meeting, they reached a final draft of the joint vision for the next phase, which will be a tool for the formation of the government and other institutions and for better serving the citizens,” read a joint statement from the two ruling parties.

The meeting comes two days after Kurdistan Region Prime Minister and Deputy President of the KDP Masrour Barzani and PUK leader Bafel Talabani met in Erbil, with both sides assessing the meeting positively and underscoring the importance of forming a strong and unified KRG cabinet.

The KDP and PUK emerged as the main parties from the October 20 parliamentary elections, gaining 39 and 23 seats respectively. The Kurdistan Region’s newly-elected members of parliament were sworn in early December, officially commencing their legislative duties.