By Mufid Abdulla: Six months after Jalal Talabani’s collapse in Baghdad with a stroke, the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) TV channel has shown photos of him in a German hospital bed (without any independent verification).There are rumours that he might be making a speech on TV but I don’t think that’s likely at this…
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Category Archives: PUK
Kurdish Democracy’s biggest test yet
By Shwan Zulal: Kurdistan Region president, Massoud Barzani, has set the date for the next Kurdish general election at 21 September 2013. Both parliamentary and presidential elections will be held on that date. The candidates running for president have not put their names forward yet, apart from one independent. On the parliamentary front, it is…
KDP and PUK seek Gorran support for elections delay
A delegation from the two ruling parties, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democrstic Party (KDP), has visited the headquarters of the Gorran movement. The main purpose for this visit was to ask the opposition party to agree to a delay to the Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections (due to be held before the end…
PUK dithers over break with KDP
KT News and Comment: Recently the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) announced that it would stand independently from the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) in the general elections to the Kurdistan Region’s parliament that are meant to be held before the end of July. Today, however, Azad Jundiany a PUK politburo member and press spokesman, issued…
The upcoming KRG elections: Possibilities for changes in power and political scenarios
By Kamal Chomani: Although the date for the next Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) elections has not been set, given that the last elections were held on July 25, 2009, the next ones should be held by July 25, 2013. These might be completely different to previous elections held by the KRG. For the first time,…
Why the banking crisis in the Suli area?
By Mufid Abdulla: For the last two weeks the Suli area of the Kurdistan Region has been suffering the effects of a major banking crisis. The banks cannot pay customers – both individuals and small businesses – what is due to them. The state banks have been unable to pay the wages of civil servants…
Corrupt politicians have caused banking crisis, says PUK leader
KT Comment: Three days ago, PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) politburo member Mula Bakhtiar wrote an article, for his website and newspaper Chawder, identifying the main cause of the shortage of money affecting Kurdish banks and the crisis facing the Bank of Kurdistan. He blamed corrupt politicians who have been “hiding tons of dollars in their…
PUK will stand on its own in the next elections
KT News: At the latest meeting between the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) politburos, these two ruling parties decided to abandon their electoral alliance and stand against each other in the general elections to the Kurdistan parliament. The decision followed recent speeches and criticisms, raised especially within the PUK, whose…
25 years on from the Saddamist atrocity, the people of Halabja are still suffering
By Mufid Abdulla: Today it is 25 years since Halabja was attacked with chemical weapons, causing the sacrifice of 5,000 lives. The world has come to know of their plight but, a quarter-century on, the survivors are still struggling to find their identity and come to terms with this tragedy. In the wake of the…
PUK seeks to forge post-Talabani ties with neighbours
KT News and Comment: The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) politburo has set up three committees to deal with the party’s diplomatic ties with Turkey, Iran and Baghdad. Politburo member Ala Talabani told Hawlati that the committees have commenced their work although the PUK founder and Iraq president Jalal Talabani remains absent through his illness…
Opposition calls for parliamentary elections date
KT News and Comment: The Opposition is asking for the Kurdistan Region’s two ruling parties to announce a date for parliamentary general elections. This should by 25 July because these elections are meant to be held every four years. However, due to the political uncertainties facing the two ruling parties, it seems highly possible they will…
President Barzani’s quest for hegemony: Insisting on a presidential system as an example
By Kamal Chomani: There is near unanimous support for changing the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) semi-presidential system to a parliamentary system. The proposal is backed by the three main opposition parties – the Gorran Movement, Islamic Union and Islamic Group – and by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), as one of the two ruling…
Future of the PUK hanging in the balance in Talabani’s absence
By Shwan Zulal: Mutterings about what next and who will lead the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) continue but now the main two contenders are emerging – with two different styles of leadership, representing different strands of thought within the party. After his recent ill-health and suffering from a stroke, Iraqi President and PUK leader,…
PUK should free itself from KDP domination
By Mufid Abdulla: Arguably the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) deserves the credit for re-starting the armed struggle against Saddam following the defeat of the revolt led by Mustafa Barzani’s forces in 1975. Unfortunately the PUK leadership squandered that credit during its two decades in power. Their Strategic Agreement with Masud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party…
