ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Erbil on Saturday, discussing the overall situation in post-elections Iraq, and the need to resolve outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad according to constitutional provisions and agreements.

The former Iraqi premier arrived in Erbil earlier on Saturday at the invitation of President Masoud Barzani, where he was received by Iraq’s foreign minister and senior Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official Fuad Hussein.

"Both sides agreed on the importance of resolving outstanding issues between the Kurdistan Region and the federal government based on the constitution and signed agreements," read a statement from Maliki's office, shortly after the meeting. 

In addition to addressing Erbil-Baghdad disputes, the pair also discussed “the general situation in Iraq after the parliamentary elections and the efforts and discussions of the political parties to form a new cabinet of the federal government,” according to a statement by premier’s office.

Prior to meeting with the Kurdish prime minister, Maliki was also received by President Masoud Barzani in Pirmam, with the meeting reportedly aiming to seek the KDP president’s views on the Kurds’ demands for the next cabinet.   

Iraq's 2025 parliamentary elections saw Maliki's State of Law Coalition win 29 seats in the legislature, third highest after Iraq's incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Alliance and the Sunni Taqadum Party.

Maliki was fielded as the Dawa Party’s candidate for the premiership position in the next term on Saturday. The Dawa secretary-general is a key pillar in the currently ruling Coordination Framework and has presided over multiple episodes of prickly relations between Baghdad and Erbil.

He has already served as Iraq’s premier for two terms since 2006. He resigned from the post during his second term in August 2014, following a series of major defeats Iraqi armed forces suffered at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS) earlier that year.

The Kurdistan Region’s financial disputes with the federal government are ongoing despite the signing of a landmark deal to resume Kurdish oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline in September, which had been halted for 30 months after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled that Ankara had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil independently from Baghdad.

Baghdad has also repeatedly and strategically withheld the Region's civil servant salaries as a means of pressuring Erbil.

The KRG has repeatedly stated that Erbil demands its full share of the federal budget from Baghdad come 2026. It has also called for the implementation of Article 140 of the constitution, which relates to territories whose administration is disputed between the KRG and the federal government.