Baghdad’s fiscal pressure and intra-Kurdish rivalries are reshaping the KDP–PUK bargain, reconfiguring Kurdistan Region federalism without systemic collapse.
Monday, August 31, 2026
Baghdad’s fiscal pressure and intra-Kurdish rivalries are reshaping the KDP–PUK bargain, reconfiguring Kurdistan Region federalism without systemic collapse.
Political stalemate has left Iraq’s Kurdistan Region exposed. Without a government, Iraq’s Kurdistan remains at the mercy of regional conflict and disunity.
The KDP demands power based on elections; the PUK insists on historical balance. Without Kurdish consensus, Baghdad cannot form a government.