ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – President Masoud Barzani said on Monday that a “specific mechanism” must be established to resolve the recurring issues between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) regarding the Iraqi presidency position.

“The position of President of the Republic is the prerogative of Kurds, and a specific mechanism for electing the president must be established and implemented to avoid political crises with each election,” Barzani said. 

He made his remarks during a meeting with a high-level ruling Shiite Coordination Framework delegation, headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.

The post of Iraq’s president has long been a source of contention and turmoil between the KDP and PUK, with both sides claiming their right to the position.

Successive Iraqi elections have seen both Kurdish parties at loggerheads over the presidency, fielding separate candidates. 

This time, the KDP has fielded incumbent Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, while the PUK has nominated Nizar Amedi, Iraq’s former environment minister and the head of the party’s Baghdad office. 

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.

A high-level Coordination Framework delegation visited the Kurdistan Region on Monday to meet Kurdish leaders for talks on speeding up the formation of the Iraqi government.

Another aspect of the visit is to address the controversial nomination of Nouri al-Maliki for Iraq’s prime minister with the Kurdish parties, amid growing hesitation within the Shiite camp over Washington’s rejection of his candidacy.

Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework on Saturday announced that it will keep Maliki, head of the State of Law Coalition and Iraq’s former prime minister, as its nominee for the country’s next premier, despite US President Donald Trump’s warning that Washington will no longer help Baghdad if Maliki is elected, criticizing his “insane policies and ideologies.”