Erbil (AKI) -- Iraqi president Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
and regional president Massoud Barzani's co-ruling Kurdistan Democratic
party (KDP) will present a joint list of candidates in local elections later
this year, according to a well placed source in the Kurdistan regional
government. "Four commissions have been set up for this purpose and have been
created under a strategic accord signed by both parties under which they will
present a single electoral list," Kurdistan Democratic party, Muhammad Mulla
Qader, told journalists.
The announcement of the joint PUK-KDP electoral list has reportedly alarmed
smaller Kurdish parties, but Mulla Qader sought to reassure them saying: "The
agreement is aimed at unifying the two parties' positions for the benefit of the
population of Kudistan. It is not an alliance aimed at anyone and will
strengthen the Kurdish party system."
The PUK and the KDP will present a single list of candidates in parliamentary
elections due at the end of the year, according to an unnamed independent
source.
