“This union and cooperation by the Kurdistan Region's parties is an achievement for the Kurdish nation and it is worthy of appreciation,” he said in a statement on Monday, March 2.

Both the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) had opposed Allawi's efforts to appoint Kurdish ministers without giving them final approval over the nominees. Allawi stepped aside as prime minister-designate on Sunday night after the Council of Representatives failed to achieve quorum for a vote on his proposed cabinet for the second time in a week, NRT reported.

Some Sunni and Shia parties, including those of Speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi and former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, had also opposed Allawi.

“Those Iraqi parties' response respected democratic principles and considered every Iraqi constituent's interests in a proper political process,” Barzani said.

“After this, Iraq is in a new stage where it has an opportunity to fulfil the protesters' fair demands and create a foundation on which to build broad national satisfaction and a close association between the parties,” he added.

Reporter’s code: 50101