ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Some parties in the Kurdistan Region have responded positively to a President Masoud Barzani initiative to end the political deadlock in the Kurdistan Region that has blocked government formation nearly 20 months since elections, a senior Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official said on Wednesday.

President Masoud Barzani in late April called on the Kurdistan Region’s political parties to meet and end internal conflicts that have delayed government formation, calling it a “moral, national, and patriotic duty.”

“Some parties have responded positively to President Barzani’s initiative. We hope that all sides put national interests ahead of personal interests, because only in this way we can put an end to the current deadlock,” KDP politburo secretary Fazil Mirani told The New Region.

The Kurdistan Region held parliamentary elections in October 2024, and the elected lawmakers were sworn in during a session in December of that year. However, efforts to hold subsequent sessions have failed due to not meeting the legal quorum.

The KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) emerged as the main parties from the October 2024 elections, gaining 39 and 23 seats respectively. The two parties have since engaged in unsuccessful negotiations over forming the next KRG cabinet.

Saadi Ahmed Pira, a PUK politburo member, told The New Region that “there are serious efforts underway” for a meeting between the KDP and PUK.

"There are serious efforts in Erbil, Sulaimani, and Duhok to bring about a meeting between the PUK and KDP — and these efforts are serious. I have proposed a sitting to determine how it should proceed," Pira said.

Last week, the KDP stressed that “only public pressure” from the Kurdistan Region’s citizens is enough to force the political parties to negotiate and form the next government.

Both the KDP and PUK have blamed each other for the dysfunction. A key sticking point has been top positions and sovereign ministries in the Kurdistan Region, particularly the interior ministry – a post the PUK is vying for.

The PUK has also reiterated that it would negotiate as “one package” with the New Generation Movement (NGM), which holds 15 seats, in government formation talks with the KDP.

In January, the leadership of the PUK and NGM announced that they had reached preliminary agreements to form a united front to challenge the ruling KDP, aiming to form the Region’s next government.

However, the KDP has insisted on negotiating with the PUK and NGM as separate parties rather than recognizing their alliance as a single bloc.