Kurdistan
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani speaking at "The Kurdish Question in the Middle East" conference in Erbil on October 8, 2022. Photo: PM Barzani's office
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Regional parliament should decide on a sole candidate for the Iraqi presidency as it represents the people of the Kurdistan Region, the Region’s prime minister said on Saturday.
Addressing a question about the Iraqi presidency while attending a conference in Erbil, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani suggested that the best way for Kurds to agree on a candidate for that position is through a vote in the Region’s parliament.
“We have a parliament that represents the people of Kurdistan, let the candidates be suggested at the Kurdistan parliament, and whoever receives the majority of the parliament's support, let them become the sole candidate of the people of Kurdistan,” Barzani said.
Iraq on Monday will hit the one year mark since it held elections, a period during which it has failed to elect a new president or government.
According to a long-standing customary agreement, the three main leadership positions in the Iraqi government are divided among Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis. Kurds get the presidency, Shiites get the premiership, and Sunnis get the parliamentary speaker. Among Kurds, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has held on to the presidency position since 2005.
However, Barzani on Saturday claimed that this customary agreement was violated during Iraq’s 2018 elections.
“In the first three elections, the Kurds were united and supported a candidate for the presidency,” Barzani said. “During the last election, not this one, but the one before, this tradition was broken, the president of Iraq which should have been elected by majority of Kurds was not implemented, but on the contrary, in a parliament session without Kurds, a Shiite majority picked a president.”
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and PUK for years abided by an agreement, more commonly identified as the strategic agreement, where the PUK would get the Iraqi president of their choice, and the KDP in return would get the presidency of the Kurdistan Region.
Neither side contested the candidates proposed by each other for years, until 2018, when the KDP for the first time put forward Fuad Hussein against Barham Salih for the position. However, Hussein, who is now Iraqi foreign minister, did not make the cut and Salih was chosen as the country’s president.
The PUK has on several occasions said that they endorse Salih to run for another term as president, the KDP has also put forth the Kurdistan Region’s Minister of Interior Rebar Ahmed. Despite this, the Iraqi parliament has not been able to elect a president in a year as a result of its inability to meet legal quorum, and recurring protests in the Iraqi capital.
Addressing a question about the Iraqi presidency while attending a conference in Erbil, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani suggested that the best way for Kurds to agree on a candidate for that position is through a vote in the Region’s parliament.
“We have a parliament that represents the people of Kurdistan, let the candidates be suggested at the Kurdistan parliament, and whoever receives the majority of the parliament's support, let them become the sole candidate of the people of Kurdistan,” Barzani said.
Iraq on Monday will hit the one year mark since it held elections, a period during which it has failed to elect a new president or government.
According to a long-standing customary agreement, the three main leadership positions in the Iraqi government are divided among Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis. Kurds get the presidency, Shiites get the premiership, and Sunnis get the parliamentary speaker. Among Kurds, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has held on to the presidency position since 2005.
However, Barzani on Saturday claimed that this customary agreement was violated during Iraq’s 2018 elections.
“In the first three elections, the Kurds were united and supported a candidate for the presidency,” Barzani said. “During the last election, not this one, but the one before, this tradition was broken, the president of Iraq which should have been elected by majority of Kurds was not implemented, but on the contrary, in a parliament session without Kurds, a Shiite majority picked a president.”
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and PUK for years abided by an agreement, more commonly identified as the strategic agreement, where the PUK would get the Iraqi president of their choice, and the KDP in return would get the presidency of the Kurdistan Region.
Neither side contested the candidates proposed by each other for years, until 2018, when the KDP for the first time put forward Fuad Hussein against Barham Salih for the position. However, Hussein, who is now Iraqi foreign minister, did not make the cut and Salih was chosen as the country’s president.
The PUK has on several occasions said that they endorse Salih to run for another term as president, the KDP has also put forth the Kurdistan Region’s Minister of Interior Rebar Ahmed. Despite this, the Iraqi parliament has not been able to elect a president in a year as a result of its inability to meet legal quorum, and recurring protests in the Iraqi capital.
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