ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has not yet selected a candidate for the Iraqi presidency but will soon announce its pick, Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister and senior PUK member Qubad Talabani said on Tuesday. 

Talabani on Monday met with senior Iraqi officials in Baghdad, including Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and State of Law Coalition leader Nouri al-Maliki, to discuss ongoing efforts to form the next Iraqi government and discuss the top three leadership posts, nearly a month after legislative elections were held. 

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Talabani described the PUK delegation’s meetings as “good,” saying the party believes that a strong Iraq will ultimately make the Kurdistan Region stronger. 

Under an informal 2005 agreement on power-sharing in Iraq, the prime minister position is reserved for the Shiites, the president a Kurd, and the speaker of parliament a Sunni.

The presidency has been held by a PUK member since 2005, despite the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) consistently outperforming the PUK in the general elections. 

“As of this moment, we, as the PUK, do not have a candidate for President of the Republic, but we will soon,” Talabani said. 

In recent months, the KDP has stressed that the post belongs to the Kurds as a whole and is not exclusively reserved for the PUK.

Tensions between the Kurdistan Region’s two main parties have escalated in recent months. 

Although the Kurdistan Region held parliamentary elections in October 2024, with the KDP winning 39 seats and the PUK 23, the parties have yet to reach an agreement on forming the next cabinet.

The KDP has routinely blamed the PUK for hindering the formation of the next government, accusing the rival party of making unreasonable demands.

"We and the KDP are two rival parties, and it's normal to criticize each other, but we will resume our dialogue," Talabani stated. 

Last month, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the KDP will negotiate the formation of the next Iraqi government with the PUK under new terms after its victory in the Iraqi election.