Sardar Abdullah, a former Gorran MP, and Omar Barzinji, Iraq’s ambassador to Rome, have thrown their hats in the ring as independent candidates.
There are reports that Komal may nominate their current MP in Baghdad Saleem Shushkaye.
The parliament will accept candidates through to the weekend, ahead of a scheduled sitting on September 25.
Under an unofficial power-sharing agreement, the three presidencies of Iraq are divvied up among the three main groups in the country: Sunnis take the speaker of the parliament, Shiites fill the role of prime minister, and a Kurd assumes the position of the president.
The two largest Kurdish parties – the KDP and PUK – have not been able to reach an agreement on a nominee, however.
“The process has become somewhat complicated. The KDP is seeking this position. And the PUK insists it assumes the position as before. These two parties will make a decision on this matter in a politburo meeting. Kurdish political parties should decide this matter,” said Farhad Alaadin, an advisor to current President Fuad Masum.
Masum is a member of the PUK, as was his predecessor. The two parties have previously agreed that the presidency of Iraq would go to the PUK and the KDP would hold the presidency of the Kurdistan Region – an office that has been temporarily suspended.
The PUK has reportedly narrowed their field to two candidates: head of their politburo Mala Bakhtiar and former prominent member Barham Salih who split from the party last year to form his own CDJ.
Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, widow of late PUK founder Jalal Talabani and influential member of the party’s leadership, said she is staying neutral on the matter.
The decision will be made by the PUK leadership council, she told US envoy Brett McGurk in a meeting on Tuesday also attended by her son Bafel, according to a party statement.
While stressing that the presidency belongs to the Kurds in general the PUK specifically, Ahmed highlighted the need for Kurdish unity in Baghdad.
“The PUK believes in national unity and wants the Kurds to work in Baghdad as a team and share one position on questions,” read the statement.
The PUK leadership council will meet on Wednesday or Thursday to finalize a nominee, according to Bakhtiar.
He said that there is no official agreement for Salih to rejoin the PUK, but that if he does, “Mr. Barham could become one of the nominees.”
Salih has recently met with PUK acting leader Kosrat Rasul, but they only agreed to continue discussions on possible coordination.
Asked if he would take his name out of the running if Salih returned to the fold, Bakhtiar replied, “I decide only on the basis of my convictions… because it is my own right."
But it’s time to make a decision, he added.
"Now that tensions have reduced in Baghdad, we have to a make a decision in Kurdistan and the discussions should go on responsibly between us and the KDP,” he said.
The PUK and KDP have agreed to work together in the Iraqi parliament.
“In all cases, we hope the KDP and us and all the Kurdish parties keep our front united and head to Baghdad with one decision per the project we drafted and take one presidential candidate with us,” he said.
Some within the KDP, however, running on the party’s strong showing in the Iraqi election where they garnered the most votes among the Kurdish parties, have argued they deserve the presidency.
The KDP asked for the post in a meeting with the PUK last week, according to PUK's Shalaw Kosrat Rasul.
KDP spokesperson Mahmoud Mohammed had earlier said they are "more deserving of the position of president" because of their electoral results.
Leaders in Baghdad and international allies have repeatedly urged lawmakers to speed up the process of forming the government so that serious work to address a crisis in Basra can begin.
Parliament held its inaugural session on September 3, nearly four months after the May 12 election, but postponed a vote on the speaker for 12 days as blocs vied for control of chamber.
Mohammed al-Halbousi was elected speaker on September 15.
Under the constitution, a new president must be chosen no more than 15 days after the speaker is installed. The president then instructs the largest bloc in the parliament to form the government.
