Could Iraq’s Kurdish region return to two separate administrations?

Key points

• The KDP held a parliamentary session in Erbil without the PUK, prompting the PUK to withdraw from government.
• Analysts warn two rival administrations could emerge in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, as happened in the 1990s.
• A constitutional expert says the PUK splitting off Sulaimaniyah would have no legal basis.

Disagreements between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over forming a new government have raised the prospect of two rival administrations in northern Iraq's Kurdish region, analysts say. The dispute escalated after a parliamentary session was held in Erbil last week without the PUK taking part.

PUK leader Bafel Talabani responded by pulling his party out of the government, and there is growing talk that a rival administration could be set up in the party's Sulaimaniyah base. The KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, is the largest party in the region, with strongholds in Erbil and Dohuk.

Election results and the impasse

In the region's sixth parliamentary elections on October 20, 2024, the KDP won 39 seats and the PUK 23, a gap of 16 seats. The KDP still needed agreement with the PUK and other parties, including the New Generation Movement, which won 15 seats, to form a government.

The PUK has refused to cooperate, so after a two-year wait the KDP reactivated the regional parliament on Wednesday without its rivals. Independent politician Yasin Aziz said the differences between the two parties had been significant and have now led to a breakdown in relations.

If a prime minister is appointed in Erbil, we will take the same step in Sulaimaniyah.

— Mahmood Khoshnaw

Warnings from both sides

KDP member Subhi Mandalawi blamed the impasse on the PUK's refusal to form a government with the KDP, saying the PUK had counted on the KDP being unable to secure a legal quorum. He said the door remains open to the PUK and other parties.

Senior PUK official Mahmood Khoshnaw said activating parliament without the PUK departs from the principle of partnership and will have consequences. He warned that if a prime minister is appointed in Erbil, the PUK will take the same step in Sulaimaniyah.

Constitutional affairs expert Ramadan Albadran said the dispute is a deep political crisis rather than a constitutional one, and that the Iraqi constitution offers no mechanism for dividing the region. He said a PUK move to separate Sulaimaniyah would not be a legal or constitutional act.