ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A senior member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) on Sunday called for dialogue between Kurdish political parties amid tensions over the Kurdistan Region’s next government cabinet, slamming “efforts to divide” Region.

The Kurdistan Region’s parliament reconvened last Wednesday after a two-year hiatus, continuing the proceedings of its first session in 2024 and electing the parliamentary presidency board.

Of the Region’s two largest parties, the KDP participated in the session, while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) boycotted it. A day later, PUK leader Bafel Talabani announced that the party would withdraw from the KRG and revealed plans for a potential separate government.

“Efforts to divide the Kurdistan Region are not good efforts, and the political parties must return to the negotiating table and find solutions to the problems, because problems are not resolved through complaints,” KDP spokesperson Mahmoud Mohammed told The New Region on Sunday.

The KDP is making every effort to resolve the outstanding issues, he said, stressing the importance of accepting one another despite differences.

Despite the PUK's boycott of the session, quorum was met following the attendance of several MPs from the PUK and opposition blocs in defiance of their party lines.

On Sunday, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court dismissed a PUK and New Generation Movement (NGM) request for an injunction to halt the Kurdistan Parliament following its reactivation, The New Region learned.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Barzani said Thursday that breaking the parliament deadlock was needed "to protect the legal entity of the Kurdistan Region and its institutions" and that "It was not directed against anyone or any party.”

President Masoud Barzani on Monday called on the PUK to sit down with the KDP and resolve their differences while calling on the abstaining blocs to attend parliament "for the sake of serving the people of Kurdistan.”

The PUK is the KDP’s main rival, and the two parties have traditionally governed the Region together. They emerged as the two largest parties in the last parliamentary elections. The KDP won 39 seats, while the PUK secured 23.