Iraq's Parliament set seven days to end Presidential deadlock

Shafaq News– Baghdad

Iraq’s parliament has given Kurdish political blocs one week to break the deadlock over choosing the country’s next president, an official told Shafaq News on Sunday.

Lawmaker Ahmed Al-Dalfi of the Reconstruction and Development (Al-Imar Wa Al-Tanmiya) Alliance, led by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, explained that parliament also submitted an inquiry to the Supreme Judicial Council seeking clarification on whether official holidays are excluded from the constitutional timeframe.

Under constitutional timelines, parliament must elect a president within one month of its first session, a deadline that expired on January 28, with uncertainty continues over whether official holidays are counted within that period.

Abbas Al-Moussawi, secretary-general of the Shiite Coordination Framework (CF), the largest bloc in Iraq’s parliament, noted that a delegation from the bloc will travel to the Kurdistan Region on February 2 for talks with Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani to advance the presidency file.

In a statement, he added that the CF does not support a specific candidate, favoring instead a Kurdish consensus between the two parties on a single nominee.

Earlier today, the Iraqi Council of Representatives failed to convene its scheduled session to elect a president, with the meeting postponed until “further notice” due to a lack of quorum.

Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani previously rejected reports of an agreement between the KDP and PUK, confirming that both parties will continue to put forward their respective nominees —Fuad Hussein and Nizar Amedi— to compete in parliament.

Under Iraq’s informal power-sharing arrangement, the presidency is reserved for the Kurdish component, while the premiership is held by a Shiite figure and the speakership of parliament by a Sunni.

Read more: Iraq’s Presidential Race: Kurdish candidates competing for the post