# Could Iraq’s Kurdish region return to two separate administrations?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/could-iraqs-kurdish-region-return-to-two-separate-administrations/
- Published: 2026-11-08T13:06:28+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T14:41:26+00:00
- Original publisher: Al Jazeera (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/8/could-iraqs-kurdish-region-return-to-two-separate-administrations?traffic_source=rss
- Topics: UK, World

## Key points

- Kurdish power-sharing talks have broken down.
- The KDP reopened parliament without the PUK.
- Analysts warn rival administrations could emerge.

## Summary

A dispute between Iraqi Kurdistan’s two main parties has raised the prospect of the region splitting into rival administrations, ending decades of power-sharing. The crisis deepened when the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) reconvened parliament in Erbil without the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), prompting the PUK to withdraw from the government.

The KDP is strongest in Erbil and Dohuk, while the PUK’s base is Sulaimaniyah. In the 2024 regional election, the KDP won 39 seats and the PUK 23, but the KDP still needed partners to form a government. Analysts warn that distrust and the parties’ refusal to compromise are making an agreement less likely; the region was governed by separate authorities during fighting between the parties in the 1990s.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.