Political shifts complicate Iraq’s president and PM selection

Shafaq News- Erbil

Political divisions in Iraq over the selection of president and prime minister have deepened following post-election shifts, a senior Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official said on Tuesday, pointing to US objections to the current nominee for the premiership.

Speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony honoring professors at Salahaddin University in Erbil, the member of the KDP Political Bureau, Pshtiwan Sadiq, noted that noted that the KDP leader Masoud Barzani had previously supported the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) presidential nominee, but political shifts following Iraq’s parliamentary elections created a new reality, particularly after Sunni blocs resolved the parliamentary speakership and the Coordination Framework moved to nominate its own candidate for prime minister, altering the political balance and rendering earlier understandings no longer applicable.

Read more: Iraq’s Government formation enters high-risk phase under US economic pressure

Regarding the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) formation process, Sadiq said negotiations between the KDP and the PUK lasted five months to reach agreement on a joint governing program and the distribution of cabinet posts, with the PUK receiving nine of the 20 ministerial portfolios and no ministries allocated to other parties at that stage. More than a year has passed since the regional elections, he added, noting that the KDP has repeatedly urged all political forces to take part in forming a broad-based government as soon as possible.

Read more: Six months of stalemate: Kurdistan’s government formation crisis deepens

Sadiq also pointed to Barzani’s “central role” in Rojava, the Kurdish areas in northeastern Syria, in protecting it from threats, adding that “the achievements realized in the Kurdistan Region represent a source of hope for all other parts of Kurdistan.”