Meeting of PUK Politburo on November 4, 2021 (Facebook/bafeljalaltalabani)
AM:10:11:05/11/2021
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SULAIMANI — After several days of renewed controversy within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), members of the party’s Politburo met in Sulaimani on Thursday night (November 4) and pledged to form a special committee to outline the party’s plans following last month’s Iraqi parliamentary elections.
Led by PUK Co-President Bafel Talabani, the meeting was used to discuss the latest political situation and the results of the election, the party said in a statement.
The PUK netted sixteen seats in the election, a loss of two from 2018. More concerning was the drop in its raw vote by some 214,000 votes, reflecting disillusionment within the party’s base.
The meeting also emphasized "the continuation of the party and organizational reform process,” referring to Talabani’s efforts to assert the suprmecy of his faction in the ongoing power struggle within the party, which exploded into public view in July when Talabani removed his co-president, Lahur Sheikh Jangi, and a number of his rival’s allies from key posts in the party and the security forces.
On Tuesday, Sheikh Jangi released a video criticizing the party’s performance in the election and its general direction and calling for a meeting of the party’s powerful General Leadership Council to resolve the tensions between the two leaders. Talabani responded by issuing a letter expelling Sheikh Jangi and four others from the PUK.
Before the meeting of the Politburo on Thursday, Sheikh Jangi issued his own letter reasserting his powers as co-president and annulling the decisions.
Zhino Mohammed, a member of the General Leadership Council who was one of those that Talabani attempted to oust, told NRT’s Panorama program that the PUK would have done better in the election if it hadn’t been for all the recent conflict within the party.
In recent months, Talabani has used the Politburo to issue decisions, rather than the more powerful General Leadership Council because a significant minority that body’s members would likely block any action against Sheikh Jangi.
(NRT Digital Media)