KDP's candidate withdraws from the presidential race

Shafaq News/ The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) announced withdrawing its candidate, Rebar Ahmed, from the presidential race.

The KDP office said the step came to "success the process of electing the president of the republic and forming the new Iraqi federal government."

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) bloc revealed that it would participate in today's parliamentary session and vote for Abdul Latif Rashid.

"We will vote for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) candidate, Abdul Latif Rashid." Head of KDP's bloc, Dr. Vian Sabri AlKadi, told Shafaq News Agency.

Today's session follows a year since an Oct. 10, 2021, parliamentary election in which populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr emerged as the biggest winner but failed to lobby enough support to form a government.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial position, but the vote for a new president is a key step in the political process since the President invites the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc to form a government.

Per the power-sharing formula between the two leading Kurdish parties, the President of the Republic was usually named by the PUK, which has held the presidency since 2003. However, its rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which claimed the largest number of Kurdish votes by far, was insisting on its own candidate.