Shafaq News- Baghdad

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani announced a political reconciliation with Taqaddum Party leader Mohammed Al-Halbousi following months of deteriorating relations between the two sides.

Relations between the KDP and Taqaddum collapsed across two overlapping fault lines: a procedural dispute during the April 11 presidential election session, which the KDP characterized as a violation of parliament's approved internal rules, and Taqaddum's decision to back the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's presidential candidate, Nizar Amedi, a direct affront to the KDP, which had fielded its own candidate for the post. The KDP subsequently recalled its members of parliament and ministers from Baghdad for consultations, a de facto boycott that effectively suspended its participation in federal institutions.

"Our meeting with Al-Halbousi was very fruitful, and we invited him to visit the Kurdistan Region," Barzani told reporters on Tuesday after a meeting with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq head Qais Al-Khazali, adding that discussions extended beyond the KDP-Taqaddum bilateral track to encompass Iraq's Sunni National Political Council —a Sunni umbrella bloc holding close to 77 parliamentary seats whose alignment will be a determining factor in government formation.

Read more: President Barzani comes to Baghdad with more than Erbil's demands