President Masoud Barzani Receives Azm Alliance Leader in Pirmam
Talks focus on Iraq’s political situation and efforts to form a new government.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — President Masoud Barzani on Monday, received Muthanna al-Samarrai, head of the Azm Alliance, in Pirmam, in Erbil, where the two discussed Iraq’s political situation and the latest developments in the country’s stalled government formation process.
According to a statement from Barzani’s Headquarters, the meeting reviewed the overall political landscape in Iraq and the wider region, with particular attention to recent steps in the political process aimed at forming a new Iraqi government amid ongoing deadlock.
The meeting came as a senior-level delegation from Iraq’s Shiite-led Coordination Framework arrived in Erbil earlier in the day as part of renewed efforts to break the prolonged deadlock over the presidency and premiership.
Abbas al-Amiri, Secretary-General of the Coordination Framework, on Sunday said the delegation will hold talks with both the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to unify Kurdish positions on the presidential post.
Al-Amiri announced that the delegation would include Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Badr Organization leader Hadi al-Amiri, and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohsen al-Mandalawi, with visits planned to both Erbil and Sulaimani.
Abdulrahman al-Jazairi, a member of the State of Law Coalition, told Kurdistan24 that the visit represents a “decisive step,” noting that discussions will focus on two highly sensitive issues: the presidency and the nomination of Iraq’s next prime minister. Under Iraq’s power-sharing system, the prime minister is Shiite, the parliament speaker Sunni, and the presidency—largely ceremonial—is held by a Kurd.
The renewed political activity comes as Iraq’s parliament has once again postponed the presidential vote after failing to secure the required quorum, marking the second delay in recent weeks. Parliamentary officials said Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi will meet leaders of political blocs to set a final date for the session.