The position of the Presidency of the Republic from the share of the Kurdish component in the country according to the political custom followed since the first parliamentary elections held in Iraq in 2005, and the presidency of the parliament from the share of the Sunnis, and the presidency of the government from the share of the Shiites.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party – led by Masoud Barzani – revealed the existence of a split between the Kurdish forces, due to a dispute with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan – led by Bafel Talabani – over the name of the candidate for the presidency.
The party said – in a press statement – that “our goal is to form a joint delegation from all Kurdish parties,” noting that “the representatives of the Patriotic Union did not have the powers to take a decision, so they withdrew without our knowledge.”
The statement added that “the position of the President of the Republic does not belong to one party or one person,” stressing that “the failure of the representatives of the National Union to vote on the Presidency of the House of Representatives is a break for Kurdish unity.”
In a meeting on Sunday, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan reiterated that Barham Salih is its candidate for the post of President of the Republic for a second term.
And the Political Bureau of the Union – in a statement – stated that “the Union Leadership Council met in the presence of party leader Bafel Talabani to discuss the Iraqi political situation, the constitutional entitlements of our people, and the formation of the government.”
The statement pointed out that Talabani stressed in the meeting, “the eligibility of the Union for the position of President of the Republic, which is the entitlement of the Kurds and the National Union, and that he insists on these rights, even though the other parties presented their candidates away from consensus.”
Since the new Iraqi parliament speaker, Muhammad al-Halbousi, announced the opening of the door for candidacy for the position of the presidency on the ninth of this January, 26 Iraqis have submitted papers for their candidacy for the position of president.
A parliamentary source told Al Jazeera Net – who preferred not to be identified – that most of the candidates so far are Kurds, most notably the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) candidate, the outgoing President of the Republic, Barham Salih, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party candidate, Hoshyar Zebari, who previously held my foreign and financial portfolios for many years.
Among the candidates, Judge Rizgar Muhammad Amin, who was known for the first time during his tenure as a trial judge for the late President Saddam Hussein, as well as a woman running for the position is Shelan Al-Mufti, who returned and announced her withdrawal from running for the position after receiving threats from influential party parties.
It is noteworthy that the position of the Presidency of the Republic from the share of the Kurdish component in the country according to the political custom followed since the first parliamentary elections held in Iraq in 2005, and the presidency of the parliament from the share of the Sunnis, and the presidency of the government from the share of Shiites.