President Barzani Calls for New Mechanism to Choose Iraq’s President, Urges Unified Kurdish Consensus
The prominent Kurdish leader says the presidency is a Kurdish entitlement and must not be monopolized by any single party.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — The prominent Kurdish leader, President Masoud Barzani, on Monday called for a fundamental change in the mechanism for selecting the President of the Republic of Iraq, stressing that the post is the rightful share of the Kurds and must reflect genuine representation of the people of the Kurdistan Region.
In a written message dated December 29, 2025, Barzani said all Kurdish political forces must firmly believe that the Iraqi presidency belongs to the Kurds and should no longer be treated as the exclusive property of any one party or faction.
“To ensure that the President of the Republic truly represents the people of Kurdistan, the mechanism for choosing this position must be changed,” Barzani said, warning against any party considering the office as its own entitlement.
He outlined several possible frameworks for selecting a Kurdish candidate, including nomination by the Kurdistan Parliament, consensus among all Kurdish political parties, or agreement by Kurdish blocs and lawmakers within the Iraqi Council of Representatives.
Barzani emphasized that the candidate does not have to belong to either the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) or the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and could come from another political group or be an independent figure.
“The most important issue is that the person chosen enjoys Kurdish consensus and truly represents the people of Kurdistan in assuming the presidency of the Republic of Iraq,” he said.
Barzani’s message comes as part of his effort to move beyond partisan rivalry, encourage greater unity among Kurdish factions, and promote a unified, inclusive, and institutional Kurdish approach to key sovereign positions within Iraq’s federal government.