ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's (PUK) Supreme Political and General Leadership Councils were to be chosen in Sulaimani as the party's long-delayed congress entered its second day.
Former acting PUK leader Kosrat Rasul Ali, who was elected head of the PUK Supreme Political Council by a majority vote on Saturday was granted the power to elect members of his council.
"Those who will be elected [by Ali] for the Supreme Political Council are the politburo members who have decided not run for any post," Saadi Ahmed Pira, a politburo member of the PUK told Rudaw on Monday.
After approval of Ali's selection of council members by congress, Arsalan Bayiz, Omer Fatah, Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, Adnan Mufti, Hakim Qadir, Sheikh Jaafar Mustafa and Mala Bakhtiar were elected to the Supreme Political Council. Dler Saeed Majeed was later also elected and approved for the council.
Bayiz and Mufti were formerly speakers of the Kurdistan Region's parliament. Ahmed is the wife of late PUK founder Talabani, while Jaafar Mustafa is the current vice president of the Kurdistan Region.
Fatah is a former deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The Supreme Political Council will have just one deputy. The strongest nominee for the post of the deputy is said to be Mala Bakhtiar, the current head of the Executive Council of the PUK.
Fuad Masum, former Iraqi president and one of the founding members of the PUK is not a nominee for any post, Pira added.
"He will remain as a founder of the PUK and a person whose advises and suggestions during possible hardships will be taken into account," Pira added.
The major pillar of the PUK is the General Leadership Council, a body which will be responsible to elect the new president of the party.
On the first day of the congress, three high-profile congress members were elected to the council: Iraqi President Barham Salih, Speaker of the Kurdistan Region Parliament Rewaz Fayaq and Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, through an outright majority vote.
Election of the remaining 118 members by secret vote was due to take place today,
congress spokesperson Yasin Rasul told Rudaw, but has been delayed until tomorrow - the last day of the conference.
The PUK’s 76 point bylaws, which determine party rules and regulations, were approved on Sunday by a congress vote.
According to these bylaws, the 121 elected members of the General Leadership Council will be tasked with choosing the head and deputy of the council, before electing the new president of the PUK.
Rudaw has learnt that the strongest candidate for the presidential post is Iraqi President Salih.
The president will be supported by five deputies.
Favourite candidates for deputy roles include Bafel Talabani, Lahur Talabani, Imad Ahmed, Shalaw Kosrat Rasul and Rafat Abdulla, Rudaw has learnt from sources at the event.
The second dominant party in the Kurdistan Region after the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the PUK had failed to hold its fourth congress for years due to internal issues, the death of its founder Jalal Talabani in 2017 and the war against the Islamic State (ISIS). Its last congress was held on June 1, 2010.
About 1,000 members of the party are attending the congress, elected in the last few weeks in four provincial elections by its offices throughout the Kurdistan Region.
The PUK is the second largest party in the Kurdistan Region. The party has 21 of 111 seats in the Kurdistan Region parliament, but only 18 of 329 seats in Baghdad.
Updated 5:36 pm
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