Row over presidency does not undermine PUK-KDP alliance, PUK leading figure says

Shafaq News/ The row being played out between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) does not erode the foundation of the long-standing alliance between the two leading parties in the Kurdistan Region, PUK MP Mulla Karim Shakour said on Tuesday.

"The KDP and PUK are bound by a strategic alliance since 1992. They have ran the Kurdistan Region together, in partnership with other Kurdish parties, since then," Shakour said in a statement to Shafaq News Agency, "such disagreement will not tear up this alliance."

"There is a second chance, in fact, to resolve the row between the KDP and PUK over the presidency," he asserted, "the post is an entitlement of the PUK and the Kurds in general."

Shakour deemed reopening the candidature for presidency a "violation of law and constitution" since Article 70 of the constitution stipulates that a president shall be elected within 30 days without specifying what happens if the vote fails.

Yesterday, Iraq's parliament announced the reopening of registration for presidential candidates, a day after it called off a session to vote in a new head of state.

One of the two frontrunners, former longtime foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari, was "temporarily" suspended by a court, citing years-old corruption accusations after a complaint was filed against him.

Iraq's political timeline for electing a head of state and forming a government, in the wake of last year’s general election, has been derailed amid political infighting.

Monday’s voting session was not held due to lack of a quorum after several key political blocs and parties announced boycotts, against the backdrop of competing claims to a parliamentary majority.