A deal between two main Iraqi Kurdish political parties, Gorran and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), is expected to increase tensions and lead to further fragmentation and destabilization of Iraqi Kurdistan’s political scene, at least in the short run, as it might trigger reactions from the major ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

The agreement signed May 17 by senior PUK and Gorran leaders in Sulaimaniyah comes after a year of political crisis in Iraqi Kurdistan sparked by unsuccessful Gorran-led attempts to unseat Massoud Barzani, the KDP leader and president of the autonomous region.

A governmental body known as the Kurdistan Consultative Council extended Barzani’s tenure in August 2015, a measure strongly protested by Gorran and a group of parliamentarians from different parties. As a result of mounting tensions and ensuing popular protests — which the KDP blamed on Gorran — KDP-affiliated security forces prevented Yusuf Mohammed Sadiq, the Gorran speaker of the Kurdish parliament, from entering Erbil on Oct. 12, 2015. The KDP also expelled Gorran ministers from the government without resorting to proper legal mechanisms.

Against this backdrop and a severe estrangement of Gorran’s ties with the KDP, the former has struck a deal with the PUK in an attempt to form a strong front to challenge and counter KDP’s domination over Iraqi Kurdistan government and politics.