The KDP source, who spoke under condition of anonymity, told NRT that there had been little progress in negotiations between the two parties during a meeting on Monday, January 21.

“The PUK want to put forward one package of issues for the Kurdistan Region, Baghdad, and Kirkuk. But the KDP rejects that,” the source said.

For instance, the KDP will not accept a new governor of Kirkuk from the PUK until KDP members feel that they can return to the province, according to the source.

Iraqi forces, alongside Hashid al-Shaabi paramilitary units, retook Kirkuk and other disputed areas from the Kurdish forces in mid-October 2017 in the wake of the Kurdistan independence referendum.

“The PUK also doesn’t want to concede the issue of Kurdistan Region’s presidency now, while the KDP wants to get a guarantee from the PUK because the KDP’s strategy is that the primary goal of the party is to activate the presidency after the start of parliament’s session,” the source said.

There is a disagreement between the parties over how the next president should be chosen: either by a vote in the Kurdistan Parliament or in a general election.

The source added that a government platform subcommittee had been formed with “two people from the KDP and the PUK [who] were tasked with preparing a package and giving it to the parties to discuss and work on over the next four years.”

Both parties will hold another meeting next week, according to the source.

Delegations from the KDP and the PUK met on Monday in Sulaimani to discuss the formation of a new government cabinet. Both sides agreed that they would hold more talks next week.

The KDP is scheduled to meet today with members of the Gorran Movement.

Reporter’s code: 50101