Political differences continue between the two main Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Masoud Barzani, which controls the provinces of Erbil and Dohuk, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Pavel Talabani, son of the late Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who controls Sulaymaniyah province.

The last of these disputes was represented by the refusal of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Qubad Talabani, to attend the cabinet sessions in the region two months ago, in protest against what he described as the (KDP) monopolization of power in Kurdistan, according to what was reported by media close to the PUK.

These events came after the assassination of Colonel Hawkar al-Jaf, one of the most prominent officers in the Counter-Terrorism Foundation, on October 7 in Erbil, which led to the boycott of the ministerial team of the Patriotic Union of cabinet sessions in the regional government, after the Democratic Party accused security leaders of National Union to stand behind the assassination.

The persistence of the differences between the two sides - who were the mainstay of the establishment of the Kurdistan region - raises many questions about the origin of these differences and the possibility of resolving them, and whether the continuation of the differences will lead to the division of the region into two independent administrations.

Ghiath Surji: We are participating in the Kurdistan Regional Government, but the main joints of the government are under the control of the Democratic Party (Al-Jazeera)

The origin of the differences

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan accuses the Democratic Party of controlling the region's resources at the expense of Sulaymaniyah Governorate, which was confirmed by the Patriotic Union President Pavel Talabani in an interview with Rudaw Media Network a few weeks ago, where he said, "The Kurdistan Regional Government punishes the Sulaymaniyah region and its administration, and does not pay citizens' salaries."

Meanwhile, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Ghiath Surji, says that there are differences and problems with the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Kurdistan Regional Government, commenting, "We are participating in the Kurdistan Regional Government, but the main joints in the government are under the control of the Democratic Party, as it won the majority of parliamentary seats, despite our observations." How did he get these seats?

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Surji added that there are observations on the share of the ethnic components within the region that the Democratic Party has won, as well as other problems.

For example: postponing the region's legislative elections due to disagreements, as the Union called on the Democratic Party to change the election law and the members of the Electoral Commission, and to consider the share (quota) that must represent the components and not the Democratic Party, with the need to work on sorting out the voter registry that includes tens of thousands of displaced and deceased people, as he put it.

On the other hand, the writer and political researcher Kifah Mahmoud says that the two main parties in the Kurdistan region have been competing in the street since the establishment of the region's parliament in 1992, and that the intensity of the competition reached the point of war in 1993 until 1997 when the Washington agreement was signed that established a strategic alliance that ended the differences, and formed on its basis subsequent governments.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, he pointed out that the competition between the two sides continued after that, especially with regard to security and military issues and areas of influence, although the two parties were partners in governments and endured success and failure together, indicating that the problem expanded with the insistence of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in the recent period Provided that the position of the President of the Republic of Iraq is exclusive to them.

Political researcher Kifah Mahmoud confirms that the two main parties in the region have been competing since the establishment of the region's parliament in 1992 (Al-Jazeera)

financial disputes

The financial file and the provinces’ shares of the budget constitute another problem in the region, as Ghiath Surji explains that there is a distinction between the provinces and cities of the Kurdistan region, noting that the provinces of Sulaymaniyah and Halabja and the independent administrations;

Such as: Garmian, which is under the control of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, as these areas suffer from unfair distribution of the financial budget compared to other areas under the control of the Democratic Party, which applies to investment projects, as well as encouraging the Democratic Party to use merchants at the border crossings that are under the control of the Democratic Party. as he put it.

For his part, Kifah Mahmoud comments on this issue by saying, "The detail of this point needs transparency. We have 4 provinces in the region: Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, Dohuk, and Erbil, and that all provinces without Sulaymaniyah pay their revenues monthly to the Ministry of Finance in the region, and that the distribution of salaries is subject to a temporary mechanism." Because of the financial problems between Baghdad and Erbil, and that the money collected from imports covers the shortfall in salaries, and that Sulaymaniyah deprived its residents and employees of these imports.

As for the independent Kurdish journalist, Saman Noah, for his part, he believes that after the departure of the President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, former President of the Republic Jalal Talabani, the differences between the two parties increased as a result of the decline in the votes and seats of the Patriotic Union in the Kurdistan and Federal parliaments, which prompted the Democratic Party, within the framework of the electoral process, to take over More leadership positions, which alarmed the Patriotic Union, which began to pursue policies towards deepening the reality of the presence of two administrations in the Kurdistan region.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Noah explained that the crisis has widened between the two parties in recent months with the accumulation of political and administrative differences, regarding the distribution of oil imports and crossings, and security disputes have been added to them recently, which led to the suspension of the National Union's presence in the meetings of the regional government, with the absence of Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, according to Saman.

Saman Noah: Any step towards the secession of Sulaymaniyah will harm the constitutional reality of the Kurdistan region, and directly harm the two Kurdish parties (Al-Jazeera)

signs of a solution

Kurdish media outlets have published in recent days about an initiative of the Democratic Party to resolve differences with the Patriotic Union, which is confirmed by Kifah Mahmoud, saying, "President Masoud Barzani realized that the best way is to start contacts and inter-dialogues, and that the Democratic Party, since its last 14 conference, pledged to do so, by to resolve differences with the National Union.

Mahmoud revealed that there are good signs that the Speaker of Parliament - from the National Union - will make ministerial reshuffles to return the National Union ministers to their positions in the regional government, and change some ministers from the two parties, pointing to the existence of communication between the two parties away from the media, and that the initiatives may end Most of the differences are at the beginning of the new year, indicating that the competition between the two parties will continue, and that it is a positive situation in all democracies, as he put it.

This approach is consistent with Ghiath Surji's assertions, as he confirms that there are initiatives from the Democratic Party to go to Sulaymaniyah to resolve differences with the Patriotic Union, indicating that the Patriotic Union's doors are open to these initiatives to resolve all disputes between the two parties.

Jamal Cougar: There is international mediation for NATO members, and the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to resolve differences between the two parties (Al-Jazeera)

Partition risks

Many observers fear that the continuation of the differences between the two parties will lead to a rift in the political situation of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and the tendency of each party towards a separate administration within the region, especially with previous statements issued by some quarters in Sulaymaniyah that hinted at this.

It seems that these hints do not fall on deaf ears with the Patriotic Union, according to Ghiath Surji, explaining that the region's experience came as a result of the bloodshed during the past decades, and that his party sacrificed tens of thousands of lives for the sake of the region and the fight against the Islamic State, adding that the Patriotic Union did not and will not He is thinking of dividing the Kurdistan region, concluding, "In the event that the differences persist, the union must think in other ways, and that everything is possible."

As for Kifah Mahmoud, he believes that the hints of the secession of Sulaymaniyah were not issued by an official statement from the Patriotic Union, and that the official position of the Patriotic Union is far from these statements, which he considered political suicide and a loss for the region.

Journalist Saman Noah goes in this direction, commenting, "In practice, any step towards the secession of Sulaymaniyah will harm the constitutional reality of the Kurdistan region and the powers of the region's authorities, and then it will directly harm the two Kurdish parties. Therefore, the possibility of secession is weak and the threat of it by some leaders of the union is considered a pressure card." To push the Democratic Party to take policies that re-establish understanding with the National Union to acquire larger shares of power, and to involve it in major decisions.

Despite this, Noah points out that the region is actually divided into two administrations, and that many of the decisions of the regional government are not adhered to in Sulaymaniyah, in addition to the presence of two security agencies and two forces of the partisan Peshmerga, pointing out that the region is constantly declining in terms of the presence of inclusive government institutions And that the authorities have become absolutely partisan, whether in Erbil or Sulaymaniyah, according to Noah.

international actor

For his part, the leader of the Kurdistan Islamic Union, Jamal Kocher, confirms, "The scene is complicated and the issue is difficult, but that does not mean that the scene of internal fighting may be repeated, although there are tendencies to transform the region into two regions, there may be those in the two parties who wish to see a split and division of the region, Perhaps parties support this approach, whether in Baghdad or in neighboring countries.

And he continues in his interview with a media outlet that there is international mediation by members of NATO, as well as by the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Jeanine Baskhart, in addition to parties from both parties who are not with this escalation, explaining that these efforts may not be enough unless the leadership of the two parties moves. To put pressure on the first person in the party who controls the decision, as he put it.