ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Lawmakers of the Shiite Coordination Framework will attend Sunday's parliamentary session to elect an Iraqi president only if the Kurdistan Region's top two parties both attend the session and agree on a unanimous candidate for the post, a well-informed source from the ruling bloc told The New Region.

The Coordination Framework has “agreed to attend Sunday's session for electing the president if the two Kurdish parties attend and agree on a candidate," the source said, adding that if the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) skip the session, the Framework will “give the Kurds time to agree amongst themselves on the name of the new president.”

The post of Iraq’s president is traditionally reserved for Kurds in accordance with Iraq's informal power-sharing system between its three major components: Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds.

According to the source, the Coordination Framework will not support either of the two leading Kurdish parties over the other and will also boycott the session if only one of the KDP or PUK attends.

Amr Faiz, a member in the Coordination Framework, told The New Region on Saturday after a meeting of the Shiite bloc, that if the KDP and PUK fail to settle their differences by Sunday, a delegation from the Framework will visit the Kurdistan Region on Monday to facilitate reaching a resolution.

An informed source told The New Region earlier on Saturday that the KDP and PUK had yet to reach an agreement on a candidate for the post, noting that the parliament's Sunday sitting may likely be postponed due to a failure to meet quorum.

Another source speaking on condition of anonymity told The New Region that the two Kurdish blocs were poised to “compete” for the post in the parliament session after failing to reach an agreement.

An Iraqi president was constitutionally required to be selected by January 28, which marked 30 days after the new legislature term's first session. A session to elect the president last week was postponed after the relevant parties failed to find common ground regarding a unanimous candidate.

The KDP has nominated current Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, while the PUK has fielded former environment minister and head of its Baghdad office Nizar Amedi. The incumbent President Abdul Latif Rashid, a senior PUK member, is running independently. Lawmaker Muthanna Amin, meanwhile, is representing Kurdish opposition parties in the race.