ERBIL, Iraq — The new government has still not been formed in Iraqi Kurdistan since the regional parliamentary elections were held Sept. 21, 2013. Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani insisted April 2 that the new cabinet would be formed before the national elections scheduled for April 30, but the deadlock will likely continue beyond that point.

But Amanj Abdullah of the Kurdish opposition party Gorran, which surprised many by finishing second in the September elections, told Al-Monitor it is unlikely that a regional government will be formed before Iraq’s national elections. The frustration at the delayed process has been felt across the Iraqi Kurdish political spectrum.

“We are all disappointed that it has taken this long. But the fact that every political party wants to form the government makes the process more cumbersome and difficult to manage,” Qubad Talabani, KRG minister for coordination and follow-up, told Al-Monitor. Qubad Talabani is the son of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who remains hospitalized in Germany.

The elections changed the political landscape as a result of the electoral defeat of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by President Talabani. The party finished third in the regional elections.