A new government was to be formed after the regional elections on September 30, and the KDP and PUK have been holding talks about the Kirkuk Governorate and the ministry in Baghdad allocated to Kurds which was supposed to go to the PUK. The most recent announcement came 2 weeks ago and said the two parties’ officials came to an agreement on a document which would go into effect following approval by both politburos.

Party officials met once again in Sulaymaniyah yesterday. The spokespersons issued statements after the meeting and said, “We have reached an agreement on forming the government, the Kirkuk Governorate issue and the relationship with Baghdad.”

After the meeting, KDP Spokesperson Mahmud Muhammed and PUK Spokesperson Sadi Ahmed Pire held a joint press conference to announce the outcome of the meeting.

Mahmud Muhammed said the KDP and PUK have acted responsibly for the solution of issues and added that they resolved the other matters in a mutual agreement in the meeting.

Muhammed also spoke about details of the agreement with the PUK and said: “Forming the government, the Kurdistan Region’s Presidency and the Kirkuk issue are included in this extent.”

DOCUMENT TO BE SIGNED AFTER PUK MEETING

Muhammed said the PUK has accepted the agreement and they will be signing the draft after the internal PUK meeting on February 16. Muhammed didn’t give details on the articles in the draft agreement, or how the government posts will be shared.

SITUATION IN KIRKUK

PUK Spokesperson Sadi Ahmed Pire also spoke about the necessity to elect a governor for Kirkuk and said: “A candidate who will be accepted by political parties and local ethnic groups should be determined. Kirkuk has a diverse ethnic population.”

Pire said the normalization in Kirkuk and the city council starting to work again relies on the agreement between the PUK and the KDP.

DETAILS

Party spokespersons announced that they reached an agreement, but avoided giving any details on the agreement itself. Today, details allegedly agreed upon by the two parties in yesterday’s meeting have surfaced.

There are claims that article 17 in the new political agreement document says “Kirkuk Governorate is determined by the PUK”, and that the KDP has agreed to it.

Also according to the agreement reached yesterday, the Kurdistan Parliament and the Kirkuk City Council will convene on February 18 to discuss “the normalization in Kirkuk”.

The agreement between the PUK and the KDP reportedly includes the following in Article 17: “The convening of the Kurdistan Parliament in a timely fashion. The election of the Presidential Council. The convening of the Kirkuk City Council on ‘Normalization of life in Kirkuk’. The election of a Kurdish Governor for Kirkuk. PUK putting forth a candidate who won’t harm Kirkuk politically.”

The KDP and PUK politburos have come to an agreement regarding the PUK determining the Kirkuk Governor, and the Ministry of Justice post which would go to the PUK will be clarified after a PUK committee visits Masoud Barzani.