Three months after her exclusion from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK, one of the leading Kurdish parties, Alla Talabani appeared for the first time accompanied by a high-ranking delegation of PUK in a meeting with the head of the Al-Fateh Alliance, Hadi Al-Amiri, in Baghdad, with the approval of Bafel Talabani, co-president of PUK, in order to mobilize support in the race for the Iraqi presidency.
Alla Talabani was among the delegation of PUK headed by Bafel Talabani, son of late Iraqi president and secretary general of PUK Jalal Talabani, which met on January 27, with Amiri. This comes after Bafel Talabani decided in November 2021 to exclude her from the PUK, even though she was a member of the party's leadership council.
According to three sources of KirkukNow, two of whom are in the leadership council of PUK, the participation of Alla within the delegation is to mobilize votes for current Iraqi president Barham Salih, a leader of PUK, to assume the presidency of the Republic, was proposed by Theran.
One of the sources close to Alla stressed that "Iran proposed to benefit from the experience of Alla Talabani and the good relations she has with the Iraqi parties in order to mobilize votes for Salih, being a deputy in several previous parliamentary sessions, and succeeded in the previous session in securing a parliamentary seat outside the PUK."
Iran proposed to benefit from the experience of Alla Talabani and the good relations she has with Iraqi parties in order to mobilize votes for Salih
"Iran submitted a proposal for her return to Barham Salih, who in turn conveyed the proposal to Bafel Talabani, who immediately accepted her return and visited her to ask her to return to the party to help them make Barham Salih a success."
Two other sources from PUK confirmed this to KirkukNow.
One of these two sources, who is a member of the leadership council of PUK, anonymously said, "Iran supports Barham Salih in the presidency of the Republic, and a high-level Iranian delegation is present in Baghdad to work to ensure that Barham Salih gets the position of President of the Republic, and the delegation has personally requested the return of Alla Talabani."
Alla, a prominent lady leader of PUK, has strong ties with Iraqi parties, especially Shiites, and this often exposed her to criticism from her opponents, especially the Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP, PUK’s decades’ partner and rival.
The participation of Alla in the PUK delegation in the campaign aimed at mobilizing support for Salih comes at a time of intense conflict between the PUK and the KDP which in turn nominated Hoshyar Zebari for the presidency.
Regarding the role that Ala Talabani might play after the presidential position is settled, one of the sources said, "She will be given a high position in Baghdad, but it is not yet clear whether the position will be governmental or partisan, but the PUK and Bafel Talabani in person want to benefit from Alla Talabani's experience and relations in order to resolve the presidency of the republic for the candidate of the PUK.”
“The important thing is that Alla Talabani has returned to the ranks of the PUK," the source enthusiastically said.
Ala Talabani is among the leading figures close to Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabany, the former co-chair of the PUK and cousin of Bafel, who was excluded along with a group of members of the leadership council from the party by a decision of Bafel Talabani.
Following the decision to exclude her from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Alla commented, "I was subject to political punishment by the Baath Party twice in Kirkuk because of my political beliefs... Just as those penalties entered my glossary book, this punishment will also be added because I will not surrender to the will of imposing and injustice.”
“I am a member of the PUK according to the legitimacy granted to me by the (PUK) conference, and I am proud with my comrades,” Alla said then.
Kirkuk Now called Ala Talabani, but she has not responded.
The return of Alla comes after Bafel Talabani said in a statement he made on November 28, 2021 on the issue of the return of LSheikh Jangi and other leaders, "Those dismissed will not return to the ranks of the PUK, even after a million years."
A million years ago, Alla Talabani was excluded from the party
Zwan Ahmed, a journalist in the PUK, after the return of Alla Talabani sarcastically wrote, "Alla Talabani, after a million years of her sentence of one million years. Mrs. Alla was dismissed from the party for one million years so she vowed to survive all the years of her punishment.”
“Good news to the members of the Leadership Council... What will you do if the Sheikh (meaning Lahore Sheikh Jangi) returns?" Ahmed exclaimed.
During October General Elections’ campaign, the PUK abandoned the support of Alla Talabani, who ran in the first electoral district in Kirkuk, and the party expressed its support for Dylan Ghafour, a candidate of PUK from Kirkuk, who ran in the same constituency as an independent candidate, as a result Alla Talabani failed to win a parliamentary seat.
Muhammad Othman, a member of the leadership council of the PUK and the former official of the PUKOrganizations Center in Kirkuk, commented about the return of Alla, saying, “O opponents, do not concern yourself too much with the PUK because when things get tough and when you try to minimize us, we unite more and become the tip of a dagger tearing the body of the opponents of the PUK."
