‘No parliament session scheduled for electing president’: Viyan Sabri

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – No date has yet been scheduled for the Iraqi parliament to elect the country’s next president, said the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) bloc of parliament, Viyan Sabri, on Sunday.

“Parliament hasn’t yet scheduled a date for holding a session to elect Iraq’s president,” Sabri told Kurdistan 24. “Electing the new president requires further discussion among the political parties.” 

Sabri revealed that “talks are currently ongoing among the political parties for scheduling a date for holding a parliament session to elect the president.” 

“The KDP has cards to use, and it will not repeat the 2018 experience,” she said.

She pointed out that “the Shiites should agree on selecting a candidate for prime minister and declare what his/her government program will be.” 

“The Kurdistan Region Minister of Interior Rebar Ahmed is the KDP’s only candidate for the presidency,” she reaffirmed. “While the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has more than three different candidates.”

Following the 2018 Iraqi elections, the KDP and PUK went to the parliament with two different candidates. The Iran-backed Shiite political parties with a majority in the 2018 parliament term voted for the PUK’s candidate, Barham Salih, who became president. The current Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, was the KDP’s presidential candidate that year.

“The Shiite Coordination Framework (SCF) is close to nominating a candidate for Iraq’s next prime minister,” read a statement by the media office of the head of the State of Law coalition Nouri Al-Maliki on Monday. 

Read More: Iraqi government formation delayed by deep disputes among Shiite parties

The SCF has called on the KDP and the PUK to agree on a single presidential candidate. 

Read More: KDP and PUK need to agree on a presidential candidate: Shiite Coordination Framework