Ala Talabani reinstated by PUK, sources tell Peregraf

27-01-2022 09:29

Peregraf 
Ala Talabani, a former member of the leadership of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) who party Co-President Bafel Talabani expelled last year for her ties to his internal party rival Lahur Sheikh Jangi, has been reinstated to the PUK following an intervention by Iraqi President Barham Salih and is now working to boost Salih’s troubled reelection bid.

“Ala Talabani is currently part of the PUK team working at Mam Jalal's house in Baghdad to gather support and promote Barham Salih for a new term as President of the Republic and visit the parties with Bafel," a senior PUK source told Peregraf.

The development was confirmed by a second source. 

A third source said that “it is decided that Ala Talabani will be formally returned to the party, but the mechanism has not yet been determined.”

During the PUK’s leadership struggle that erupted into public view in July 2021, Ala Talabani sided with Sheikh Jangi against Bafel Talabani. In November, Bafel Talabani declared that she had been expelled from the party, along with Sheikh Jangi and two others.

The sources told Peregraf that Salih had been working to convince the party leadership to reinstate Ala Talabani for more than a week, arguing that tensions between the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) were affecting the PUK’s internal problems.

Peregraf attempted to contact Ala Talabani for more information, but she did not respond by press time.

Today Ala Talabani was a member of the PUK delegation in their visit to Hadi Ameri, the leader of the Fatih alliance

Ala Talabani had initially been a PUK candidate for the Council of Representatives in last October’s election but was deselected as a result of her support for Sheikh Jangi. Instead, the party supported Dylan Ghafur, who ran as an independent but is now caucusing with the PUK in the parliament.

The KDP and PUK are currently competing over the Iraqi presidency, which has been held by a member of the PUK since 2005. The PUK is supporting the incumbent, Barham Salih, while the KDP is running Hoshyar Zebari.

It would be a tremendous blow to the PUK should it lose the Iraqi presidency.

On Thursday, the parliamentary leadership announced that the vote for the presidency would take place on February 7, with the final list of candidates to be published on March 31 after a review of their nomination documents.

The KDP entered into an agreement with the Sadrists and the Sunni bloc to form a majoritarian government together.

Earlier this month, Sunni candidate Mohammed al-Halbousi was reelected as speaker, while the KDP candidate for second deputy speaker was also confirmed. The PUK boycotted the vote alongside several Shia parties who have objected to the results of the election and are opposed to Sadrist control of the Shia bloc.