Iraqi parliament to hold session to elect President of Republic

Thursday’s session is going to be fully dedicated to electing a President of the Republic.

Kurdistan 24 2022/10/11 18:30

Iraqi Parliament's during a session for electing President of Republic, Feb. 7, 2022. (Photo: Iraqi PM Office/HO/AFP)

Iraq Iraqi Parliament Presidency of Repulic Iraq KDP PUK

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi lawmakers are set to meet on Thursday to elect a president for the country one year after holding the parliamentary elections, the legislative house’s speaker announced on Thursday.

Thursday’s session is going to be fully dedicated to electing a President of the Republic, according to the meeting’s agenda announced by Speaker Mohammad Al-Halboosi, the state media reported.

Electing a candidate for the largely ceremonial post, which has been traditionally reserved for the Kurds, is one of the points of contention between the two Kurdish major parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

Despite several rounds of meetings and initiatives, the KDP and PUK have not yet been able to reach an agreement on electing a sole candidate for the position.

The PUK candidate is the incumbent President Barham Salih while his rival is KDP's Reber Ahmed, the current Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Interior and acting head of the Department of Foreign Relations.

In order to overcome the political deadlock between the conflicting parties, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Saturday suggested nominating a candidate in the Kurdish parliament by the majority of lawmakers, as they are the representatives of the people in the Kurdistan Region.

Iraq marked one year of holding the 2021 parliamentary elections on Sunday. Due to deep political disagreements on the nature of the next government, the Iraqi political parties have not been able to form a cabinet.

The one-year-long political stalemate also led to episodes of violent clashes and demonstrations in numerous Iraqi provinces in recent months. In late August, at least 30 people were killed as a result of street clashes between the followers of Moqtada Al-Sadr and their Iranian-backed rivals.

Marking the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 10, 2021 elections, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Sunday called on the Iraqi parties to engage in dialogue without preconditions to overcome the crisis, as the status quo would breed "further instability".

A number of Western countries later expressed their support for the international organization’s statement.