KDP nominate Hoshyar Zebari for Iraqi presidency

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) on Wednesday put forth a former Iraqi finance minister as their candidate to challenge the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) Barham Salih for the Iraqi presidency, an informed source told Rudaw.

The KDP chose Hoshyar Zebari as their candidate for the presidency of Iraq just days after the PUK chose Salih to be their candidate to run for a second term as president.

Thursday marks the final day for candidates to run for presidency, with the two major Kurdish parties already making up their minds on who they endorse. The parliament elects a president among candidates by a two-thirds majority, and the timings of Iraq’s constitution mean that the election of the president should therefore take place no later than the end of February 8, 2022.

Zebari served as the Iraqi finance minister from 2014 to 2016 before he was removed from his position following a secret parliamentary vote of no-confidence over alleged corruption and misuse of public funds. At the time, Zebari denied all allegations against him, calling them political, and he was later cleared of these charges.

At the time, Zebari denied all allegations against him, however out of 249 MPs present in the meeting, 158 voted against him.

According to a long-standing customary agreement, the three main leadership positions in the Iraqi government are divided among Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis. Whereas Kurds get the presidency, Shiites get the premiership, and Sunnis get the parliamentary speaker. Among Kurds, the PUK has held on to the Presidency position since 2005.

Both the 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 of each other for years, until 2018.

Following the controversial 2018 elections, the KDP for the first time put forth a candidate to run for the Iraqi Presidency and challenge PUK’s Salih for the position. However KDP’s Fuad Hussein, who is now Iraqi foreign minister, did not make the cut and Salih was chosen as President.

However this year, with the Sadrist bloc expressing an interest in forming a parliamentary alliance with the Sunnis and KDP, there may be a possibility that the KDP will secure their chosen candidate as president for the first time since 2005.

Despite both the KDP and PUK preaching for a united Kurdish front in Baghdad for months, confusion arose when the PUK did not attend the first parliamentary session to vote for the legislature's speaker and his two deputies. During the meeting, the head of Taqadum Coalition, Mohammed al-Halbousi was re-elected for a second term as speaker of Iraq’s parliament and Sadrist MP Hakim al-Zamli was elected as his first deputy speaker, while KDP's Shakhawan Abdullah secured the second deputy speaker's position. 

Now both parties are going up against each other for the presidency.

According to Article 54 of the 2005 Iraqi constitution, when the election results are confirmed, it sets in motion a process for the winning parties to form a government. Within 15 days of the ratification of the results, the president calls on the parliament to meet, chaired by its eldest member, and elect a speaker and two deputies by an absolute majority during its first session, which is set out by Article 55.

The president then tasks the largest bloc in the parliament with forming the government, naming a prime minister within 15 days of the election of the president. The prime minister-elect then has 30 days to name a cabinet. 

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