Fayli Kurd candidates prepare for the Presidential race

Shafaq News / Fayli Kurds candidates are preparing for the Presidential race, among tens of others who submitted their candidature for the Parliament Presidium.

Earlier today, the Iraqi parliament rolled a roster of 40 candidates eligible to vie for the presidency of the republic post.

Two men and two women from the Fayli kurds community are running for Presidency, namely Kamal Aziz Muhammad Rahim Qaitoli, Khadija Khadayish Asad Qalawis, Faiza Jabbar Muhammad Babakhan, Saad Jamil Nasser Murad al-Fayli.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party revealed that the Kurdistan Patriotic Union chose Barham Salih without the Fayli Kurds' community approval, which promoted the latter to nominate its own candidates.

The vote for president, a role traditionally reserved for the Kurds in post-2003 Iraq, primarily pits the incumbent Barham Saleh against his top challenger, former minister Rebar Ahmed, candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Spurred by the sweeping victory over their Kurdish rivals, the KDP seeks to adjust the terms of the long-standing allotment that allowed the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to keep the post of the president since 2003.