KDP adds a new name to its presidential candidates shortlist

Shafaq News / A source in the Kurdistan Democratic Party revealed today that the party will nominate a new Presidential candidate.

The source told Shafaq News agency that the party submitted credentials for three Presidential candidates, noting that the KDP will hold a meeting to choose one candidate among them.

The candidates are Fadel Mirani, Fouad Hussein, and Rebar Ahmed (the current Minister of Interior).

The final KDP candidate will compete with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's candidate, Barham Salih.

The vote for president, a role traditionally reserved for the Kurds in post-2003 Iraq, primarily pits the incumbent Barham Saleh against his top challenger, former minister Hoshyar Zebari, candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Spurred by the sweeping victory over their Kurdish rivals, the KDP seeks to adjust the terms of the long-standing allotment that allowed the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to keep the post of the president since 2003.