A prominent leader from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, revealed that the party planned to maintain its strategic alliance with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) during the parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 21 in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, despite the fact that the two parties will participate via electoral lists that are independent from one another.
Widespread participation and fierce competition are expected, yet reliable sources confirmed to Al-Monitor that Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani is working toward a comfortable majority in the new parliament to allow him to form a government without the PUK, thus pushing Talabani, who is still recuperating from a stroke suffered in late 2012, from the Kurdish political scene.
