Shafaq News – Erbil

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani said Iraq needs a clear, binding mechanism for electing the president, arguing that the lack of agreed-upon rules has repeatedly produced post-election deadlock, according to a statement from his office.

During a meeting in Erbil with a senior delegation from the Shiite Coordination Framework that included caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who leads the Reconstruction and Development Alliance, Badr Organization Secretary-General Hadi al-Amiri, and Al-Asas Alliance head Mohsen al-Mandalawi, alongside other political figures, leader Barzani addressed Iraq’s broader political situation, steps in the political process, the stalled presidential vote, and procedures for forming the next federal government.

On the presidency, Barzani affirmed that the post “belongs to the Kurds” and called for formalizing a specific mechanism to choose the head of state so the political process does not face the same obstacles after every election cycle. He stressed that any presidential candidate “should be selected and elected in line with that agreed framework.”

The Council of Representatives failed to convene on February 1 to elect a president, the second such delay within two weeks, after lawmakers again fell short of a quorum.

Kurdish President Nechirvan Barzani and Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani attended the meeting, along with the KDP’s nominee for the presidency, Fuad Hussein, who also serves on the party’s political bureau.