The government is elected as part of the Kurdistan Region Parliament.

[1] After the 1992 parliamentary election resulted in the two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), each holding 50 out of 100 seats, they decided to create a unity government (which was not recognized by the Ba'athist Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein).

[2] The unity government soon collapsed and in 1994 a civil war broke out, which lasted until 1998.

This resulted in the establishment of two Kurdistan Regional Governments in 1996, a KDP-controlled one in Erbil and a PUK-controlled one in Sulaymaniyah, each with their own prime minister.

Barham Salih held the post of prime minister until 17 January 2012 after which he relinquished his position to Nechervan Idris Barzani.