New Generation leader: PUK agreement excludes KRG formation

Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah

Shaswar Abdulwahid, leader of the New Generation Movement, stated on Saturday that his agreement with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) was aimed at securing a budget law and did not address the formation of the next Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Speaking at a press conference in Al-Sulaymaniyah, Abdulwahid explained that the terms of the agreement with the PUK were meant to ensure a budget law is in place and to prevent funds from being spent and distributed arbitrarily, alongside a number of other sensitive files. "We have not spoken in any way about forming the government, or whether we will take part in it," he noted, adding that his movement had informed the PUK that reports of talks between the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) on government formation were untrue.

According to Abdulwahid, the agreement was meant to bring about certain fundamental changes. "Our goal was that if they agreed to our conditions, it would change people's lives," he explained. "If that happens, a lot will change. If it doesn't, we will have done what we needed to do, and we will withdraw from it."

Abdulwahid argued that reforming the government through the previous mechanism used by the PUK and the KDP would “harm citizens,” noting that his movement had no knowledge of meetings held between the two parties over the past month. As long as the KDP does not recognize his movement's alliance with the PUK, he said, any bloc that meets with the KDP represents only its own seats in parliament.

“Our movement remains committed to its agreement with the PUK,” Abdulwahid stressed, describing it as an important turning point, though he maintained that the KDP wants to govern alone. "If the KDP moves in this direction now, it will make the situation worse than before," he warned. The alliance with the PUK stands regardless of whether his movement joins the next government, he concluded.