The PUK Leadership Council held a meeting on Saturday, November 21, and a source at the meeting told Rudaw TV that the meeting discussed the party's internal problems, relations with Baghdad, and the participants decided to continue the PUK meetings with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Also in this meeting, the membership of Malla Bakhtiar, a member of the Supreme Political Council and the interests of the PUK and one of the old and prominent members of the party, was suspended for three months by a majority vote.

The reason for the decision is the publication of a book by Malla Bakhtiar entitled "Instead of Memory" in which he describes the events that have taken place in the party in recent years and also Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region and Riwaz Fayeq, Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament from Members of the leadership council also were warned for non-compliance with party decisions.

A source from the Patriotic Union leadership council, who did not want to be named, told Rudaw that there was still controversy among members as to whether the vote would be mentioned in the final communiqué of the meeting.

Lahore Sheikh Jangi, a PUK co-chair, said that the meeting was chaired by him and Bafel Talabani, another co-chair of the party, during which they discussed the latest developments in Iraq and the region, the rights of regional employees and the decentralization of Kurdistan governing system.

On the other hand, the news site of Derw Media reported that at the PUK leadership council meeting, the members unanimously suspended Malla Bakhtiar's membership, citing the publication of his controversial book, which provoked many reactions.

Reporter's code: 50101