2026-11-14T14:41:11+00:00
Shafaq News- Halabja
Iran has explicitly rejected any return to a two-administration system in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party (KSDP) Secretary-General Mohammed Haji Mahmoud said on Saturday, as tensions between the KRI’s two main ruling parties continue.
Speaking at a press conference in Halabja, Mahmoud, widely known as Kaka Hama, said an Iranian delegation had recently visited the KRI and met Kurdish political leaders, conveying Tehran’s opposition to any scenario involving the Kurdistan Region’s division into separate administrations.
Mahmoud urged the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to take responsibility for overcoming the political crisis, stressing the need to preserve the KRI’s unity. Describing their escalating exchanges as “mutual political pressure,” he noted that the parties had overcome more serious disputes in the past, including armed conflict, and that resolving their differences required genuine political will.
He also welcomed KDP leader Masoud Barzani’s initiative to bring political parties together for dialogue, describing it as an important step toward promoting stability.
The KDP–PUK Dispute
The political deadlock dates back to the October 2024 parliamentary elections, when the KDP won 39 seats, the PUK 23, and the New Generation Movement 15 in the 100-seat legislature, leaving no party with an outright majority and delaying the formation of a new government.
Tensions escalated on November 4, 2026, when the Kurdistan Parliament convened despite a boycott by the PUK and New Generation, with some lawmakers from the two parties having previously declared themselves independent or severed party ties. The session drew 52 lawmakers, including six elected on the PUK and New Generation lists who attended despite their parties’ boycott, and elected KDP candidate Vala Fareed as speaker.
PUK leader Bafel Talabani rejected the November 4 parliamentary session and threatened to establish parallel governing institutions in PUK-controlled areas if the KDP proceeded with political appointments, declaring, “If you form a government, we will form a government.”
The KDP, meanwhile, defended parliament’s reopening as legal and necessary to restore legislative activity. Barzani called for renewed negotiations and a broad-based government on November 9, but Talabani dismissed the public invitation three days later as “not serious,” while leaving open the possibility of responding to a formal meeting request. The PUK and New Generation also challenged the November 4 session before Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court.
Read more: Kurdistan Parliament deadlock through four political lenses
Source: Shafaq News
