🔶 dead end in Erbil; Will the old wound of "Jalali and Malay" be reopened?
Reporting by Omid Bryan
Iraq's Kurdistan Region is witnessing one of its most complicated political crises these days after the end of the civil war in the 1990s. On Thursday, November 5, Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, announced in an unprecedented video message that his party would leave the regional government.
Talabani described the cabinet as "failed" and called the new legislative body, which convened in the absence of his party and its allies, illegitimate. Emphasizing that he will use all his power to meet the needs of the areas under the control of the Patriotic Union (Sulaymaniyah and Aleppo), he almost triggered an alarm in the climate.
This sharp reaction was a direct result of Wednesday's developments. The Kurdistan Democratic Party managed to hold the first parliamentary session after the elections in October 2024 and after almost two years of political deadlock, with the participation of 52 representatives out of the total 100 seats, by gathering the representatives of the minorities and some representatives who were separated from the Patriotic Union.
At this meeting, Vala Fried became the Speaker of the Parliament. The Democratic Party, relying on its 39 seats, claims that the legislative process should not be held hostage to the long negotiations on the formation of the government. But the patriotic union with 23 seats sees this action as a systematic attempt to impose a unilateral will and ignore the shrocket principle.
Today's crisis is actually the opening of old historical wounds. Experts believe that the "two ministries" system never disappeared in the region.
Kamal Chomani finds the root of this gap in the historical conflict known as "Jalali and Malay" since 1964.