Months of political paralysis have crippled Iraq's Kurdistan Region following the October 2024 regional elections, leaving the newly elected parliament unable to form a government or elect a speaker.  The deepening rift between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)—the region's dominant factions—has prompted calls for dissolving the legislature and holding new elections in parallel with Iraq's vote set for 11 November.

On May 1, acting speaker Mohammed Sulaiman of the opposition New Generation Movement (NGM) declared the Kurdistan Parliament dissolved, citing its failure to meet constitutional deadlines. In a letter to President Nechirvan Barzani, Sulaiman urged a formal dissolution decree, arguing that the chamber failed to elect a leadership team within the 45-day limit required by Kurdish law.

The KDP and PUK rejected the move, calling it unilateral and lacking legal grounds. Yet, under Kurdish law, the president may dissolve parliament if it cannot achieve a quorum or fulfil its duties within 45 days of its first meeting. 

The chamber met briefly on December 3 but then adjourned indefinitely, with the KDP and PUK boycotting further sessions.

The 2024 elections saw a 72 percent turnout. The KDP won 39 seats, the PUK 23, and the remaining divided among smaller parties and minorities—reaffirming KDP-PUK dominance but exposing their worsening inability to govern.

Experts warn that the parliament has become legally defunct. "There is no legal basis for indefinite suspension," Farman Hassan, a Kurdish lawyer and political analyst, told The New Arab. "The parliament has effectively expired."

 Omar Gulpi, a lawmaker from the Kurdistan Justice Group opposition party (KJG), on Monday filed a case with Iraq's Supreme Federal Court to annul the 2024 election results.

"Our complaint challenges the paralysis of Kurdistan's highest constitutional body, which we believe no longer represents the people or fulfils its duties. We're asking the court to annul the election results and order new regional elections alongside Iraq's national vote," he told TNA, adding that the ongoing deadlock violates both Kurdish law and the Iraqi constitution.

He also said that he asked the court to order the return of five months’ worth of salaries paid to the lawmakers without performing any duties. 

Though Iraq’s top court cannot dissolve the regional parliament, it has intervened in Kurdish affairs before — notably, by annulling a 2018 extension of the Kurdistan Parliament’s term.