ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday urged lawmakers to end their boycott of parliament sessions, saying the legislature must resume work to clear the way for forming the next Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) amid an ongoing political deadlock.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a school year inauguration ceremony, Barzani said, “Lawmakers, who are the representatives of the people, should break the parliament boycott and return to the parliament, in line with their national duty,” as the deadlock over government formation continues.

The premier said parliament must be activated before the next KRG cabinet can be formed, with holding parliamentary sessions serving as the first step.

“We have been ready [to form the government] from the day after the elections,” he said, highlighting the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) readiness to begin the process with other political forces.

“Until now we are ready; we want the government to be formed swiftly,” said Barzani, who is also a deputy president of the KDP.

The Kurdistan Region held parliamentary elections in October 2024, with the KDP winning 39 seats, followed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) with 23.

Lawmakers were sworn in two months after the elections, but repeated attempts to convene parliament have failed because sessions did not reach the required legal quorum.

In the months that followed, the KDP and PUK, the two largest winners in the election, held several rounds of negotiations aimed at forming the next KRG cabinet, but the efforts failed to produce an agreement.

The KDP blamed the non-agreement on the PUK’s insistence on securing several top posts, which the ruling party deemed not reflective of the results of the elections and the vote of the Kurdish public.

The process became more complicated in July, when PUK leader Bafel Talabani and Shaswar Abdulwahid, leader of the New Generation Movement (NGM), finalized a deal to cooperate as an alliance in the upcoming KRG cabinet, without explicitly stating that the agreement sought to exclude the KDP from the government.

In early June, the PUK said it would negotiate with the KDP alongside the NGM as “one package.” The KDP, however, has reportedly insisted on negotiating with the PUK and NGM as separate political parties rather than recognizing their alliance as a single bloc.

The NGM announced Tuesday that it would not participate in the next government and would remain in opposition. Its leader said Saturday during a press conference that the party’s deal with the PUK “in no way” discussed joining the government and that it is “not a condition” for them to do so. Instead, he said the agreement was intended to “form a balanced government” and to “make fundamental changes” in the Kurdistan Region.