Iraq presidential vote delayed as Kurdish blocs struggle to pick candidate

The election for Iraq’s next president has been postponed in order for more consultation between the two Kurdish parties to come to a decision.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) requested a delay in the parliamentary vote scheduled for Tuesday, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

According to a sectarian quota system, the prime minister’s position is held by a Shia, the parliament’s speaker is a Sunni, and the presidency is largely ceremonial for Kurds.

A PUK member typically assumes the presidency in accordance with a deal reached between the two main Kurdish parties. The KDP selects the region’s president and regional leader, in contrast, from the region’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

However, the KDP chose Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein as the primary candidate in this instance.

Whoever is nominated by the two Kurdish parties still needs the support of the Shia and Sunni blocs in the parliament, according to Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed, who is based in Baghdad.

The new president will have 15 days to choose a prime minister, presumably Nouri al-Maliki’s former leader, after the election.

Al-Maliki, 75, has previously served as Iraq’s prime minister for two terms, including two terms in 2006 and 2014. He abruptly resigned under American pressure. He is perceived as having ties to Iran.

Maliki was approved by the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Shia parties with a majority in parliament on Saturday. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned against an Iraqi pro-Iranian government the following day.

Washington “has conveyed to it a negative view of previous governments led by former prime minister Maliki,” according to an Iraqi source close to the coordination framework.

The United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding the next government, according to US representatives in a letter.

Another Iraqi source confirmed the letter, noting that Maliki was confident that Washington’s concerns would be addressed by the Shia alliance, which had continued to advance with its decision.