EXCLUSIVE: Kurdistan Parliament rejects tomorrow's session to elect presidency, says official

Shafaq News/ On Monday, the “newly elected” Kurdistan Region Parliament rejected a session to elect the parliamentary presidency, despite the oldest member’s call to convene it Tuesday.

Saman Ahmed, the Parliament's media director, told Shafaq News, "The Kurdistan Parliament will not hold a session tomorrow, as the call from the oldest member did not comply with the Parliament's internal regulations."

"Any session must be agreed upon by political parties, and the Kurdistan Parliament’s Presidency Office must be notified to publish the invitation and agenda, and invite media for coverage,” he added.

On Sunday, the Senior Member of the Kurdistan Parliament, Muhammad Suleiman, called for a second session to elect the Parliamentary Speaker.

The sixth term of the Kurdistan Parliament held its first session earlier in December, attended by political and diplomatic figures.

The parliament had opened nominations for its presidency but decided to leave the nomination period open due to a lack of quorum caused by the withdrawal of several members.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) nominated two candidates for the parliamentary presidency: Vala Farid and Halgurd Sheikh Najib. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) also put forward two candidates: Shalaw Kosrat Rasool and Miran Mohammed. Meanwhile, the New Generation Movement nominated Kardawan Jamal.