ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Region’s two ruling parties have reached a “preliminary agreement” to form a joint council to resolve outstanding issues related to the Iraqi presidency and the formation of the next Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a lawmaker said on Thursday. 

“A preliminary agreement was reached to form a council between the two parties to resolve issues and remove obstacles ahead of the presidential election and the formation of the next Kurdistan Regional Government,” Ekhlas al-Dulaimi, a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) lawmaker, told The New Region. 

The agreement was reached during Wednesday’s high-level meeting between the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Erbil’s Pirmam district, according to Dulaimi. 

Consensus on a candidate for the Iraqi presidency and dividing positions in the Kurdistan Region’s next government have been points of contention between the two Kurdish parties. 

An informed source told The New Region that the Pirmam meeting saw a good level of understanding on some issues between the two sides, but noted that differing views remained, preventing any agreement, including on naming a joint presidential candidate.

The two sides agreed to finalize a candidate for Iraq’s next presidency during their next meeting, before moving on to discussions on the formation of the new KRG cabinet. Both issues of contention are inextricably linked, with the PUK seeking an expanded ministerial portfolio.

The New Region has learned that the PUK and KDP are set to meet again early next week.

Both the KDP and PUK have long claimed the right to the post of Iraq’s president - a position traditionally reserved for the Kurds under a power-sharing agreement in Iraq.

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.

KDP officials have repeatedly stressed that the presidency, which has been held by the PUK since 2005, does not belong to a single party.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani of the KDP on Tuesday suggested that the candidate 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 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.