Iraq delays vote on president due to dispute among Kurds

The parliament session was delayed because the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan are unable to agree on a single candidate

Hamid Al Moussawi, A lawmaker

baghdad — A meeting of Iraq’s parliament to choose a new president has been delayed due to a dispute between the two main Kurdish parties.

Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 US-led invasion, Iraq’s presidency — a largely ceremonial role — is held by a Kurd, while the prime minister is Shia and the parliament speaker is Sunni.

Shia lawmaker Hamid Al Moussawi said on Tuesday that lawmakers were supposed to meet in the early afternoon. He says the session was delayed because the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan are unable to agree on a single candidate.

Under Iraq’s constitution, the new president would have 15 days to task the largest parliamentary bloc’s nominee with forming a government. The prime ministerdesignate would have 30 days to form a cabinet and present it to parliament for approval.

Lawmakers said the dominant Kurdish parties — the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — were unable to iron out differences and agree on a candidate.

The two sides competed in a parliamentary election in their semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq on Sunday. Allegations of fraud have created tensions. Results have not been announced.

Lawmakers from the parties suggested neither side was showing flexibility.

Rebwar Taha, a PUK member of the parliament in Baghdad, said the party insists on its candidate, veteran politician Barham Salih.

KDP lawmaker Sherwan Al Dobardani said his party was entitled to the position because it has more seats in the national parliament.

The presidency has been reserved for the Kurds since Iraq’s first multi-party elections in 2005.

Under a tacit accord between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the PUK would hold the federal presidency and the KDP the post of Iraqi Kurdistan’s president.

The PUK’s late Jalal Talabani served as federal president for eight years.

But the Iraqi Kurdish presidency has been left vacant since KDP leader Massud Barzani resigned at the end of his mandate following the September 2017 referendum that he championed.

The KDP and PUK candidates for president of Iraq, where the prime minister is head of government, have been touring the south of the country to lobby for support and win the backing of deputies in the federal parliament.

The PUK’s Barham Saleh, a 58-year-old moderate, has served in both administrations — as Iraqi deputy premier and Kurdish prime minister.

His rival for the post of president is the KDP’s Fuad Hussein, a 72-year-old former chief of staff for Barzani and veteran of the opposition to Saddam. —