Iraq’s Speaker receives Kurdish parties’ request to delay presidential vote

Shafaq News– Baghdad

Iraq’s Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi on Tuesday received formal requests from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) seeking to postpone the parliamentary session scheduled for January 27 to elect a new president.

According to a statement from his media office, the requests call for delaying the session to allow additional time for consultations and an agreement between the two Kurdish parties over the presidential post.

The statement did not specify how long the postponement would be or whether an alternative date had been set.

The Iraqi Council of Representatives is set to convene on Tuesday to hold the presidential vote, a key step in completing the constitutional process following parliamentary elections.

The list of presidential candidates includes current Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, who has held the post since October 2022, but whom Shafaq sources said earlier has withdrawn his candidacy, as well as caretaker Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, the leading nominee of the KDP, and Nizar Amedi, the most prominent candidate of the PUK.

Also on the list are current lawmaker Muthanna Amin, Shwan Huwaiz, Ahmed Abdullah, Hussein Taha Sanjari, Najm al-Din Nasrallah, Asu Fereydun, Saman Shali, and Sabah Saleh.

Other nominees are Abdullah al-Aliawi, Iqbal Hiliwi, Sardar Taymez, Khaled Sadiq, Azad Majid, Rafi Musa, and Salem al-Saadi.

Under Iraq’s informal power-sharing arrangement among major political forces, the presidency is reserved for the Kurdish component. The post is traditionally contested by the KDP and the PUK, the two dominant Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.

The premiership is held by a Shiite figure, while the speakership of parliament is allocated to the Sunni component. Lawmaker Haibet al-Halbousi was elected Speaker of the Council of Representatives on December 29.

According to constitutional timelines, parliament must elect a president within one month of its first session, which concluded with the election of the speaker. That deadline expires on January 28.

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