Kurdistan PUK meets over parliament reactivation
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
The PUK, Iraqi Kurdistan's second-largest party, called an emergency meeting after parliament resumed without it.
The session ended a two-year deadlock but left the region's main parties further apart.
Background
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) are the two largest parties in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and the parliament had been unable to function for two years after the October 2024 elections. Talks on forming the region's tenth cabinet stalled, with the interior ministry a key sticking point. On Nov 4 the parliament held its first session of the new term, reaching quorum only because some lawmakers from boycotting blocs attended, and elected a KDP speaker. The PUK, led by Bafel Jalal Talabani, now meets to weigh the political fallout.
How it unfolded
- Oct 20, 2024Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections are held; the KDP wins 39 seats and the PUK 23.
- Jun 16, 2026Kurdistan Region PM Masrour Barzani meets US envoy to Iraq Tom Barrack in Erbil and stresses the urgency of reactivating parliament and forming a new cabinet.
- Oct 22, 2026The KDP calls for parliament's reactivation on the anniversary of the elections, with the two parties still at odds over senior posts including the interior ministry.
- Nov 3, 2026The PUK calls the proposed session "illegal" and urges other parties not to attend; the KDP and allies have 45 confirmed participants, short of a 51-seat quorum.
- Nov 4, 2026Parliament holds its first session of the new term; 52 of 100 lawmakers attend and Vala Fareed (KDP) is elected speaker with 52 votes.
- Nov 5, 2026The PUK announces an emergency meeting chaired by party president Bafel Jalal Talabani to discuss the reactivation and its political repercussions.
Key terms
- quorum
- The minimum number of members who must be present at a meeting for the group to validly conduct business.
- cabinet
- A group of senior ministers who direct the day-to-day running of a government and advise the head of state.
- speaker
- The presiding officer who chairs meetings and leads the work of a legislative or deliberative assembly.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- KDP
- Leader Masoud Barzani said reactivating parliament is a step toward protecting and strengthening the Kurdistan Region and is not directed against any person or party, and he invited boycotting parties to take part.
- PUK
- The PUK called the session "illegal" and said it would not recognize any parliament or government resulting from sessions lacking free democratic will and full participation of elected parties.
- KDP
- KDP spokesperson Mahmoud Mohammed said parliament resumed with a majority of lawmakers through a legal and democratic process, and blamed the PUK and New Generation Movement for the two-year inactivity.
- PUK MPs
- PUK lawmakers Hardi Salah and Mohammed Faysal Karimkhan, who attended, criticized the PUK's absence and cited the need to overcome inter-party conflicts and resume parliamentary work.
Still unverified
KDP spokesperson Mahmoud Mohammed alleged that threats were made against several lawmakers and their family members to prevent them from attending; the PUK said it feared coercion or incentives behind the defections could let the KDP bypass power-sharing talks.