ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is set to announce its nominee for Iraq’s presidency on Monday afternoon, a senior official from the party told The New Region, as the deadline to submit candidates approaches.

The deadline to submit candidates for the Iraqi presidency expires on Monday at 3:00 PM (local time), with no clear frontrunner from any of the parties at the moment.

PUK lawmaker Mahmood Khoshnaw, told the state newspaper that his party will announce its candidates hours ahead of the deadline, emphasizing that “an understanding between the two parties [PUK and KDP] has not yet been reached.”

A senior official from the PUK told The New Region on Monday morning that the party will announce its candidate by 1:00 PM.

The KDP, the largest Kurdish bloc in the Iraqi parliament, has until mid-day to support a proposed nominee or field a candidate of its own. Party member Ali al-Faili told state media they have not reached an agreement with the rivaling PUK on the position, confirming the stalemate. 

So far, the PUK has nominated Nizar Amedi, Aso Faridoon, current President Abdul Latif Rashid, and Khalid Shwani, although Rashid, a senior PUK member, has stated that he is participating as an independent candidate and not on the PUK's behalf.

If the two main Kurdish parties fail to agree on a candidate, the decision will be left to a parliamentary vote.

The parliament convened for the first time on Monday last week, setting off the 30-day countdown to elect a president for the country, a position traditionally reserved for Kurds.

At least 44 candidates, including Kurds, Arabs, and Christians, are set to compete for the Iraqi presidency, with 41 of them having completed the registration process as of Sunday evening, a source in the federal parliament told The New Region.

Since 2005, the Iraqi presidency has always been held by a member of the PUK, despite the KDP consistently outperforming its rival in both Iraqi and Kurdistani elections.