Iraqi lawmakers again delay presidential vote as deadline looms

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Amid protracted political negotiations and as the final hours of a 30-day constitutional deadline to elect Iraq’s next president approaches, the nation’s parliament again postponed the start of the session in which the vote is to be held. 

A source within the Council of Representatives first told Kurdistan 24 it had been rescheduled to begin at 8:00 pm Tuesday night, but then said this was uncertain and that it could instead happen earlier if a quorum was reached. 

In mid afternoon, Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi said the session would reconvene at 4:30 pm and continued earlier calls for MPs to attend to achieve a quorum. The lawmakers so far missing are reportedly from the al-Bina faction, an alliance in parliament chief among which are the al-Fatih and State of Law coalitions, led by Hadi al-Amiri and former Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, respectively.

According to Iraq’s system of power-sharing, the post of president is held by a Kurd. While an important and coveted position, the post is largely ceremonial and grants few major powers. 

Since 2006, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has held the post as part of a deal between it and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in which the KDP would take the Kurdistan Region presidency.

The KDP, having the most seats of any Kurdish party in the Iraqi parliament and because the regional presidential post was suspended by last year, claims the presidency belongs to them and has put forth one of its own members to land the job. 

This has caused both parties to enter parliament with separate candidates for the first time. Each has been lobbying various political parties for support in recent days despite a months’ long mantra, publicly voiced by both, of the absolute necessity for Kurdish parties to face Baghdad as a united front.

Another source familiar with negotiations between the two parties told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday afternoon that they had not yet resolved disputes between them on the subject.

Iraqi parties, for their part, have made multiple and repeated calls for Kurdish parties to select only one candidate to submit.

“God willing, they will agree on a single candidate, and we are talking to concerned parties so they nominate one person,” said former Prime Minister and head of the al-Wataniya Coalition, Ayad Allawi, to Kurdistan 24, after a meeting on Thursday with the KDP’s candidate, Fuad Hussein.

The PUK’s pick is former Deputy Prime Minister, Barham Salih, a decision the KDP complains was made inappropriately since they were not consulted beforehand. The PUK has said this was in reaction to a KDP decision to present a candidate for the post of deputy parliament speaker without consulting their party.

On Monday, lawmakers convened for the sole purpose of deciding on a name to vote on for president. There were, however, not enough lawmakers to reach a quorum.

Editing by John J. Catherine