Peregraf- Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), has urged the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to stop delaying and accept a new proposal to form the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) 10th cabinet, saying the offer is balanced and unlikely to be improved.
Speaking at a meeting with religious clerics on October 18, Barzani said, “I hope this issue is concluded before the Iraqi parliamentary elections and that our brothers in the PUK come and form the government with the KDP, because it is neither in the interest of the Kurdistan Region nor in the interest of the area.”
Barzani stressed that after nearly a year of negotiations, the two parties had already agreed on the overall framework of governance, but that the PUK must now take responsibility to move forward. “The offer we have presented has a great deal of balance. I do not believe anything better or more is possible than the offer the KDP has given,” he said.
On the same day, PUK President Bafel Talabani struck a harder tone in a rally with supporters in Sulaymaniyah, insisting that his party would only join a government that guarantees real change. “A government will never be established in Kurdistan until we are certain that it will not repeat the mistakes of the past and will give us the opportunity to serve you,” Talabani said.
Nearly a year after the Kurdistan parliamentary elections, disputes between the KDP and PUK over sensitive security posts continue to block the formation of a new government. Dilshad Shahab, a member of the KDP’s negotiating delegation, told Rudaw TV that the Ministry of Interior remains the most intractable issue. “The official position of the KDP is that it will not give that ministry to the PUK and will not negotiate over it,” he confirmed.
Peregraf previously reported on September 15 that security portfolios were the main stumbling block in talks. Despite more than ten rounds of negotiations, the two historic rivals remain divided over control of the Ministry of Interior and the Kurdistan Region Security Council. The KDP insists on retaining both, while the PUK demands either the Interior Ministry or the Security Council Advisor post, as well as a senior executive role, to ensure balance.
These positions carry influence far beyond cabinet portfolios, given that security and intelligence institutions in Kurdistan are deeply tied to political power. The Security Council, established in 2011, supervises the Parastin (KDP) and Zanyari (PUK) intelligence branches, and has largely been dominated by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s KDP.
President Nechirvan Barzani also acknowledged the slow progress at the MERI Forum in Erbil earlier this month, saying, “We have passed very important stages with the PUK, but I don’t believe the Kurdistan Regional Government cabinet will be formed before the Iraqi parliamentary elections.”
The deadlock has paralyzed the newly elected Kurdistan parliament, which has been unable to reconvene since its first session in December 2024. The October 2024 elections produced a fragmented assembly: the KDP secured 42 seats (including minority allies), the PUK 25, New Generation 15, Kurdistan Islamic Union 7, with smaller parties and minorities taking the remainder.
A minimum of 51 seats is needed to form a cabinet. Together, the KDP and PUK command 67 seats, enough for a majority coalition, but their inability to compromise over security posts has kept the region in political limbo.
The situation is further complicated by opposition parties, many of which rejected the election results as fraudulent. Komal has boycotted parliament entirely, while New Generation has set tough conditions for joining any cabinet, leaving a KDP–PUK deal as the only realistic path forward.