Shafaq News– Baghdad
Iraq’s Council of Representatives announced on Wednesday the opening of nominations for the position of Iraqi president, setting a three-day application period.
In a statement, the parliament’s media department said the nomination process was launched in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of Law No. 8 of 2012, which regulates candidacy for the presidency.
The statement invited eligible candidates to submit written applications supported by original official documents proving they meet the legal requirements, along with their curricula vitae.
Under Article 1 of the law, candidates for the presidency must be Iraqi by birth to Iraqi parents, have full legal capacity, be at least 40 years old, and possess a good reputation and political experience.
The law also requires candidates to be known for integrity, honesty, justice, and loyalty to the country, to hold at least a recognized university degree accredited by Iraq’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and to have no convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude.
In addition, candidates must not be subject to accountability and justice procedures, a post-2003 vetting process aimed at excluding former senior members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, or any equivalent measures.
According to constitutional procedures, the election of the president is expected to follow the selection of the speaker of parliament and the two deputies within 30 days of the first parliamentary session.
Once elected, the president formally tasks the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a government, a process that can take several months due to Iraq’s complex political consensus-building.
Under Iraq’s post-2003 political convention, the presidency is reserved for a Kurd. The position has traditionally gone to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), but the current process unfolds amid competition with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which emerged as the largest Kurdish force in the recent parliamentary elections, securing more than one million votes nationwide.