ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday said that the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has not yet reached an understanding with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) regarding a unanimous candidate for Iraq’s presidency, stressing that the post belongs to the Kurdish component and not a single party.

“In terms of reaching a joint candidate, until now we have not reached any agreement,” Barzani, KDP’s deputy leader, told reporters, stressing the party’s desire to reach a consensus.

The premier noted that the Iraqi presidency is an entitlement of the Kurdish component and that a “single party does not have the right to impose a candidate.”

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 government formation processes have seen the parties at loggerheads over the presidency, fielding separate candidates. 

This time, the KDP has fielded Iraq’s current 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.

Delegations from the two parties are set to meet on Wednesday to discuss outstanding issues over the post, a PUK lawmaker told The New Region.

Barzani stated that the KDP has suggested for the candidate to be elected through majority vote, representing the will of the people of the Kurdistan Region. This, he noted, can be done either through the Kurdistan Region’s parliament or through the vote of Kurdish lawmakers in Baghdad to elect a “unified candidate of all Kurdistan.”

The Iraqi presidency, traditionally reserved for Kurds, is constitutionally required to be settled by the parliament within 30 days of the new legislature's first session, with the deadline having passed in this case on January 28.