Talabani pulls PUK from Kurdistan government and rejects parliament decisions

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Bafel Talabani announced his party’s withdrawal from the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, saying it would not recognize the region’s parliament decisions or any government or position emerging from it. The announcement came a day after parliament elected its speaker following nearly two years of paralysis, amid a boycott by the PUK and the New Generation Movement.

Hilal Times Editorial DeskNovember 06, 2026, 02:18 PMUpdated: November 06, 2026, 09:06 PM

Talabani pulls PUK from Kurdistan government and rejects parliament decisions

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Bafel Talabani announced on Thursday evening, November 5, that his party would withdraw from the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, saying it would not recognize decisions taken by the region’s parliament or any government or position emerging from it, Anadolu Agency and 964 reported.

In a recorded speech criticizing the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Talabani said: “We do not accept this situation, and we will not recognize the parliament’s decisions or any government or entity that emerges from it. If they appoint a president of the region, we will appoint a president of the region; and if they appoint a prime minister, we will appoint a prime minister.” He added that “this region is the fruit of the struggle of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.” Describing the current government as “a failure,” he announced his party’s withdrawal from it.

Talabani said the party’s leadership council had met for two hours on Thursday and granted him full authority to act, stressing that his party would not allow “a drop of blood” to be shed in Kurdistan. He did not explain how the parallel administration he had hinted at would operate, or whether the party intended to seek the formation of a separate federal region.

رئيسة برلمان إقليم كردستان المنتخبة فالا فريد

First quorum session in nearly two years

Talabani’s announcement came one day after the regional parliament convened on Wednesday, November 4, for its first session to reach a quorum since the opening session in December 2024. Fifty-two of the 100 lawmakers attended, one more than the minimum of 51 votes, and Vala Farid, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party bloc, was elected parliament speaker.

Christian lawmaker Rami Nouri from Ainkawa was also elected deputy speaker, while Mona Qahwaji of the Turkmen Reform Party was elected parliament secretary. Each received 52 votes. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the New Generation Movement boycotted the session, although several lawmakers from the boycotting blocs attended against their parties’ positions.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party, meanwhile, said the session was legal. Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said reactivating parliament was not directed against any party and called on the boycotting parties to participate. The party’s spokesperson, Mahmoud Mohammed, blamed the PUK and the New Generation Movement for paralyzing parliament for two years.

Background to the crisis

No party won a majority in the October 20, 2024 elections. The Kurdistan Democratic Party won 39 seats, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan 23, and the New Generation Movement 15, while the PUK and the New Generation Movement formed a 38-seat alliance in January. The government headed by Masrour Barzani since 2019 continues to perform its duties because a new government has not been formed. The PUK remains part of it, holding several ministries and the deputy prime minister’s post, occupied by Qubad Talabani, Bafel Talabani’s brother.

Bafel Talabani said he had visited Erbil more than 15 times for talks on forming a government without result. His threat to establish a parallel administration recalls the division that the two parties ended in 2006 by merging the administrations they had run from Erbil and Sulaymaniyah since their internal fighting between 1994 and 1998. Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on December 14 a lawsuit seeking to classify the regional government as a caretaker government.

Cover photo: Anadolu Agency. In-text photo: “964”

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Talabani pulls PUK from Kurdistan government and rejects parliament decisions