Iraqi parliament postpones electing president as constitutional deadline nears
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – According to a statement the Iraqi parliament released on Sunday, lawmakers will be postponing the previously-stated date for the election of Iraq’s president as competition for the traditionally Kurdish-held post intensifies.
The statement noted that Tuesday’s session would include a discussion on the formation of permanent committees in parliament and, with a number of relevant ministers in attendance, consider the situation and provision of services in the province of Basra. The oil-rich region has been the site of many protests since July, leading to the deaths of dozens.
After the inauguration of parliamentary Speaker, Sunni politician, Mohammed al-Halbousi, and his two deputies, Bashir Hajji Haddad and Hassan al-Kaabi, lawmakers were tasked with electing a president among the Kurdish candidates of Iraq’s political parties, and eventually a prime minister who would form his cabinet to address ongoing issues in Iraq.
However, demonstrations in Basra have pushed the caretaker government to address the protesters’ demands for better public services, clean water, regular electricity supply, employment, and an end to widespread corruption in Iraqi public institutions. Responses to the crisis have been lagging as competing Shia majority parties have yet to secure enough support to form a new government and begin work in Parliament.
Although the leading parties in the Kurdistan Region - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) with 25 seats, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) with 18 seats - had agreed on a single project to represent the Kurds in the new Iraqi government, a divide emerged as both sides eye the post of presidency.
The PUK has declared Barham Salih as their presidential candidate after the Kurdish politician defected from his newly-formed Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ) to return to his old party, securing him the nomination. The KDP, however, is yet to come forth with their pick.
On Sunday, Haddad, who is a member of KDP, told Kurdistan 24 that the deadline to present candidates is “today [Sep. 23] at 03:00 pm,” adding that so far, he knew of “seven or eight candidates.”
On Saturday, Halbousi met with various KDP officials, more notably, Masrour Barzani, with whom he “discussed, among other things, ongoing negotiations to elect a President” according to a tweet by Barzani summarizing the get-together.
During Haddad’s interview with Kurdistan 24, he delved into the topic of a possible deal that would allow the KDP and PUK to resolve their current differences.
The deal would essentially exchange the KDP-held seat as the second deputy of parliament speaker with that of the presidency, likely to go to the PUK as it has for the past three terms of the Iraqi government.
According to the constitution, the deadline to elect a president is Oct. 02.
Editing by Nadia Riva