The story: The long-running leadership struggle within one of Iraqi Kurdistan’s two main parties has reignited. Contradictory court rulings have been issued on whether Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani lawfully ousted his former co-president Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabany in 2021. The contention has exacerbated an open sore within the party, and bolstered perceptions that the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is interfering in the PUK’s internal affairs for its own benefit.

The coverage: The Erbil Court of Appeals on Feb. 20 found that Sheikh Jangi’s removal as co-president contradicted the PUK’s internal regulations and that he remains as co-president. This reinforced a Feb. 1 decision by the court.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi elections judicial authority in Baghdad ruled the following day that Talabani is the sole leader of the PUK.

• Iraq’s judiciary is frequently accused of being susceptible to political bias. Coverage of the two decisions has therefore assumed that the Baghdad ruling was influenced by Talabani’s Arab political allies while the Erbil decision was at the behest of the KDP.
  
  
• On Feb. 22, Sheikh Jangi released a video on social media lauding the Erbil court’s decision. In a speech, he offered to reconcile with Talabani but said that he and his supporters would be “forced to separately continue our political efforts and activities under the name of the PUK” if unity is not possible. PUK media outlets—which are controlled by Talabani—focused on the...