The Kurdistan Communist Party – Iraq has warned that the latest political developments in the Kurdistan Region have deepened the crisis rather than resolved it, arguing that the underlying problems cannot be overcome without changes to the Region's political and economic system.
Kurdistan Communist Party-Iraq warns against political division and calls for fundamental change
The Party has called for genuine political participation, respect for the popular vote and an end to the dominance of narrow party interests over the needs of the population.
In an editorial published on 10 November by Regay Kurdistan, the Party's media organ, the Communist Party criticised the reopening of the Kurdistan Parliament on 4 November without a comprehensive political agreement involving all the forces represented in the legislature.
After more than two years of paralysis following the 2024 parliamentary elections, the resumption of parliamentary activity should have been an opportunity to restore democratic institutions and address the Region's pressing problems. Instead, the Party argued, the way in which Parliament was reopened had further aggravated political divisions.
The Party stressed that Parliament must reflect the will of all voters and include every political list that secured seats in the elections. It should not become an arena for political forces to impose their will on one another or disregard the choices made by citizens. Democracy, the editorial emphasised, cannot be reduced to a contest between a parliamentary majority and minority; it requires genuine opportunities for political participation and fair representation.
The Party also placed the dispute within the wider political and economic crisis facing the Region. It argued that the problems cannot be explained solely by the rivalry between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). They are also rooted in the failure of the existing political and economic arrangements to address the actual interests and living conditions of the population.
In this context, the Party called for a fundamental reassessment of the political system and its economic policies. It argued that without meaningful political participation, accountable institutions and a change in the priorities governing the Region, agreements between the dominant parties would not provide a lasting solution.
The editorial also warned against the mentality of division and the re-establishment of two separate party-controlled administrations. Such a development, it maintained, would undermine the achievements of the Kurdish people and reproduce divisions that the population had paid a heavy price to overcome.
The Party recalled that it had repeatedly warned about the consequences of the political deadlock over the preceding two years. According to an article published by Regay Kurdistan on 7 November, it had presented a roadmap for resolving the crisis to the political forces on 30 June 2026. The initiative sought to overcome the impasse created particularly by the KDP and PUK and to restore the functioning of political institutions. The Party maintained that the dominance of power-seeking attitudes and narrow party interests had prevented the national questions from receiving the attention they deserved.
Regarding the reopening of Parliament, the Party supported restoring the institution's work but insisted that this must take place through the participation of all political forces that had won seats and in accordance with the popular vote. It warned that excluding political forces and threatening a return to two administrations would deepen the crisis rather than resolve it.
The latest developments have reinforced these concerns. The PUK announced its withdrawal from the Kurdistan Regional Government after the 4 November parliamentary session, rejecting the legitimacy of the proceedings. The KDP subsequently expressed readiness to resume negotiations following an initiative by its leader, Masoud Barzani. On 10 November, the PUK and the New Generation Movement filed a legal challenge against the parliamentary session before Iraq's Federal Supreme Court.
The Party's 10 November editorial concluded by warning against further division and fragmentation of the Kurdistan Region. It called for the protection of the achievements secured through the Kurdish people's struggles and sacrifices, insisting that the interests of the people and the future of Kurdistan must take precedence over the interests of individual parties and political leaders.