PUK, KDP continue talks over Iraqi presidency amid political tensions

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s top two Kurdish parties are continuing talks over the country’s presidency run, an official from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said on Sunday, adding that the inability to reach an agreement will lead to the repentance of previous political scenarios.

“The PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) have not closed the window of negotiation on each other, they conducted a number of high-level meetings a few weeks ago,” PUK leadership council member and head of the party’s Baghdad branch Rabiha Hamad told Rudaw, adding that it is normal for the parties to meet and reach an agreement.

The Kurdish political giants, who govern the Kurdistan Region, have had disagreements over a variety of issues in recent months, and their race over Iraq’s presidential position further escalated the tensions.

Up to last month, the KDP held a strong position in their candidate’s race for the presidency, but a sudden withdrawal from the parliament’s largest Shiite bloc led by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on June 12, put KDP’s claim of the presidency, without the backing of their strong Shiite ally, to almost impossible.

Hamad stated that failure to reach an agreement between the two parties could lead to repeating 2018's scenario where both Kurdish political parties fielded separate candidates for the same ceremonial position, and the PUK’s Barham Salih won the race. His party wants him to stay in the position, but the KDP leadership is strongly opposing the re-election of Salih.

However, with the KDP losing a strong ally inside the parliament, the options remain between reaching a deal with the PUK and giving another parliamentary faceoff a chance.

“If both sides do not get closer and reach a solution and a common candidate soon, then just like 2018, both sides will go to the parliament with their own candidate and the parliament will vote,” Hamad said.

Considering the shared interests of both parties, the PUK seems to be eager to reach an agreement with the PUK but it also seems that it does not have an issue with repeating the same scenes from 2018.

“No official agreement has been achieved so far, but the PUK is still sticking to nominating Dr. Barham Salih to take over the position,” PUK MP Harem Kamal Agha told the party’s official media on Sunday. 

“After Eid al-Adha, either both parties agree on one candidate or re-experience 2018 events, with each party going to the parliament hall with their candidate,” he added.

Iraqis headed to the election polls in October, the aim of holding early elections was to form a government that would fulfill the demands of the thousands of protesters who took to the streets of Baghdad and several southern provinces in 2019, forcing then prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to resign.

However, nine months later, the new parliament failed to elect a new president of the republic on three different occasions, therefore unable to elect a prime minister and a new government.

The parliament is expected to meet yet again to elect a president after the Eid al-Adha holiday which will take up the week from July 9 to July 14.

With around two weeks until the next parliamentary session, the KDP is also in a rush to meet with the parties who want to form the country’s next government, the PUK and the Iran-backed Coordination Framework.

“The plan is to discuss everything with the PUK in the next two days and decide on the presidency as well,” Bangin Rekani, a member of the KDP’s negotiating team in Baghdad told Rudaw on Sunday, adding that his party is insistent on their candidate.

Iraq continues to be shrouded in political instability with the country yet to form its next government a staggering eight months following the elections.

The pro-Iran Coordination Framework was the Sadrist Movement’s most formidable opponent before the withdrawal of the latter, opposing Sadr’s attempts at forming a national majority government and insisting on forming a government based on political consensus.

But to date, it is unclear whether Sadr will continue to be an on-street opposition outside the parliament, or accept the government that the Coordination Framework forms.