PM-elect Masrour Barzani kicks off government formation talks
Speaking to reporters on Sunday morning, Masrour Barzani said his party has already struck a deal for government formation with the parties, adding that his latest meeting was to "receive the CVs of the ministers from all the parties in order for us to submit our list of the cabinet to the parliament within the time frame set for the cabinet to be formed."
Barzani is hopeful that they will be able to submit their cabinet before the deadline.
He added in the next few days he will meet the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Change Movement (Gorran) in Sulaimani to discuss their minister selections.
For his part, Mahmood Mohammed, spokesperson of the KDP, said his party will "definitely submit their candidates before the deadline."
Barzani met with the KDP politburo at 10 am to discuss the formation of his cabinet, according to Rudaw's Sangar Abdulrahman.
The KDP struck government formation deals in May with PUK and Gorran, the second and third largest parties respectively, in the Kurdistan Region.
Nechirvan Barzani, the new President of the KRG, tasked the PM-elect to form a government within 30 days of June 12.
"Mindful of the enormity of the task, and of the legitimate needs and hopes of the Kurdistani people, I plan to present my cabinet within the next thirty days and call upon the political parties to recognize their solemn and national responsibility to help complete this process," Masrour Barzani tweeted last week.
Kurdistan Region MPs chose Masrour Barzani as prime minister on Tuesday. He secured 87 votes among the 97 MPs who attended the session. The chamber has 111 members, but some opposition MPs boycotted the vote.
In the September 2018 parliamentary elections of the Kurdistan Region, the KDP emerged as the largest party with 45 seats, followed by the PUK's 21 and Gorran's 12.
Rudaw
