PUK lashes out at PM Barzani: we expected an initiative

Shafaq News/ The leadership of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) expressed discontent with Prime Minister Masrour Barzani's statements on Sunday, accusing him of perpetuating inequality between Erbil and al-Sulaymaniyah.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Barzani said in a statement that political differences should be addressed outside the government while preparing for a legislative election in the Kurdistan region as soon as possible.

Prime Minister Barzani accused the PUK leadership of using the Erbil-Sulaymaniyah dispute over financial entitlements as a pretext to coerce the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) into silence over the assassination of the former head of the Counter-Terrorism-Group (CTG), Hawkar Jaff.

A statement by the PUK leader and ministers in the Kurdistan Regional Government's ninth cabinet said that they expected Barzani to "act as a prime minister for once" and offer "an initiative to improve the lives of the citizens and end the differences between the political parties and forces in the government."

The statement said that the Sulaymaniyah-based party shares the "people's reproachment" for the government's "mismanagement, poor services, and injustice among different cities."

The PUK, according to the statement, attempted to deliver its concern via an "official correspondence rather than media in order to protect the interests of the region. However, instead of asking us: what is your problem? He publishes such a statement."

The statement said that the prime minister insisted on accusing the PUK of killing Colonel Jaff and forgot that the PUK itself demanded a joint investigation from the beginning. "But the bodies affiliated with the prime minister swiftly announced scenarios of its own and portrayed them as reality."