Masoud Barzani, Iraqi parties highlight need to avoid post-2003 mistakes in meeting

Former Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani on Monday met with an Iraqi delegation from Baghdad where both sides highlighted the need to avoid the post-2003 mistakes in the country.

The largest Iraqi parliamentary bloc arrived in Erbil on Monday to discuss the formation of a new Iraqi government with the help of Kurdish parties following the May 12 national election.

The delegation is comprised of election winner Sairoon, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s Nasr (Victory) Coalition, al-Hikma, and al-Wataniya.

They met Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), to discuss many topics, including the future political process of Iraq, the formation of a new government, and electing three main presidency posts in Iraq (Parliament Speaker, Prime Minister, and President). They also underlined the mechanisms of working together to guarantee the implementation of the agreements, a statement released by the KDP leader’s press office revealed.

Both sides exchanged views on the political mistakes made in the post-2003 arena in governing the country and highlighted mechanisms to prevent a repeat of such errors, it added.

Over the past decade, the Kurdish leadership has continuously accused the Federal Government of Iraq of failing to implement articles in the constitution as well as a “one-man rule” in the country.

In the meeting, both sides stressed the need to implement three main principles in ruling the country which include partnership, agreement, and balance in the political process with participation from all components in Iraq.

While in Erbil, the Iraqi delegation also met with the KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) joint-coalition to discuss the formation of the new federal government.