Kurdistan Region of Iraq President Massoud Barzani has asked the presidency of the Kurdistan Parliament to hold consultations with the Kurdish parties and forces regarding contentious items and articles in the region’s draft constitution, to reach national consensus on the draft.

As a result, disagreements have arisen between the two pro-government parties — the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — and the opposition parties — the Movement for Change, the Islamic Group of Kurdistan, and Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) — over the notion of national consensus.

A communiqué was issued on Thursday, June 13, on behalf of Omid Sabah, the official spokesman for the presidency of the Kurdistan region. The communiqué said that the president of the Kurdistan region requested that on May 25, 2013, all political parties and forces to present their observations and suggestions regarding the region’s draft constitution.

Sabah said that all political parties and forces responded to the president’s request. The answers were sent via an official letter to the presidency of the Kurdistan Parliament, which will meet with representatives of political parties and forces, and members of the committee preparing the draft constitution of the Kurdistan region, to evaluate the proposals and observations in order to reach a conclusion on the draft constitution and the consensus of all parties.