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| Iraqi Pres Salah and PUK politburo member Rasul (Rudaw) |
In September 2018 Kurds went to the polls to elect a new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Five months later it appears that the two main parties the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) might finally have a deal to create a new ruling coalition.
At the start of February the KDP and PUK worked
out the basics of a new government. Masrur Barzani of the KDP will become
premier, and the party will hold the Natural Resource Minister. It also wants
to maintain
the presidency. In return, the PUK will keep the governorship of Kirkuk and
get the speaker
of parliament and the deputy premier
position.
The reason for the protracted negotiations is that the KDP wants
to change its relationship with the PUK. Since the 1990s when the KRG was
created and the first elections held in the region, the KDP and PUK always
divided up the government, usually 50-50. After the 2018 vote, the KDP said it
didn’t want another unity administration, but instead have the positions based
upon the results of the election. The KDP received 45
seats in the balloting, the PUK 21, Gorran 12, and smaller parties fewer than
10 seats each. That’s the reason why the KDP wants both the premiership and
presidency. This is an assertion of power by the KDP as it has become the
dominant party in the region. The PUK on the other hand, has faced the death of
its founder Jalal Talabani, internal divisions, and the emergence of the
opposition party Gorran in recent years, all of which have cut into its constituency.
The PUK obviously didn't want to be the junior partner, but might have finally
acquiesced.
SOURCES
eKurd, “PUK gets
Iraqi Kurdistan parliament speaker post and deputy PM in new government,”
2/9/19
Hussein, Mohammed,
Tahir, Rawaz, “Kurdistan government formation takes step forward,” Iraq Oil
Report, 2/8/19
NRT, “PUK To Take
Post Of Speaker, Deputy Prime Minister In New Government: PUK Spokesperson,”
2/9/19
Qader, Histyar, “Out
With The Islamists, Iraqi Kurdistan Heading For First Secular Government In A
Decade,” Niqash, 12/30/18
Rudaw, “Election commission publishes official KRG election results,”
10/20/18
Zaman, Amberin, “How
the Barzanis are looking to consolidate power in Iraqi Kurdistan,” Al Monitor,
12/4/18
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