The Iraqi presidential vote was postponed by the nation’s parliament on Tuesday to allow the two main Kurdish parties additional time to agree on a candidate for the position.
The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported that the session was delayed, though a new date was not immediately announced. According to the agency, Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbussi received postponement requests from both the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to “allow both parties more time” to finalize an agreement.
Under Iraq’s long-standing power-sharing convention, the position of prime minister is held by a Shiite, the parliament speaker is a Sunni, and the presidency is allocated to a Kurd. A tacit agreement between the two primary Kurdish parties has traditionally resulted in the PUK holding the federal presidency while the KDP selects the president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
This year, however, the KDP has nominated its own candidate for Iraq’s presidency, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, challenging the established arrangement.
Once a new president is elected, they will have 15 days to appoint a prime minister. The Coordination Framework, a majority alliance of Shiite parties, has endorsed former premier Nouri al-Maliki for the role.
This nomination has reportedly raised concerns in Washington. The US Secretary of State warned on Sunday against a pro-Iranian government in Iraq. An Iraqi source cited by AFP stated that Washington holds a “negative view of previous governments led by former prime minister Maliki.”
According to the source, a letter from US representatives clarified that while the choice of prime minister is an Iraqi decision, the United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding its engagement with the next government in line with American interests.
