ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Coordination Framework, the largest parliamentary bloc, on Friday called on the Kurdish main political parties to hold “more serious” talks in order to reach an agreement over the position of Iraqi president.
Iraq held parliamentary elections in October but the political parties have failed to elect a president and a prime minister for the country due to disagreements. The position of president has been held by Kurds for nearly two decades. Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which gained most votes of Kurds in the latest Iraqi elections, are racing over the largely-ceremonial position.
“The Coordination Framework is keen to complete the understandings between all political forces and renews the call for the Kurdish forces to hold more serious dialogues in order to reach an agreement on a candidate for the presidency,” read a statement from the pro-Iran Shiite coalition on Friday.
The PUK has fielded the incumbent president of Iraq, Barham Salih, to remain in his position while the KDP has nominated Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Interior Minister Reber Ahmed for the position. Despite a number of fresh talks between both ruling Kurdish parties, there does not seem to be any progress.
Shiite cleric and head of Iraq’s National Wisdom Movement Ammar al-Hakim too earlier this month called on the KDP and PUK to accelerate the process of agreeing on a presidential candidate.
The PUK has been allied with the Coordination Framework, which was the Sadrist Movement’s most formidable opponent, since the election results were announced. However, the KDP allied with Sadrists and Sunnis but their alliance unofficially ended when Sadrist parliamentarians resigned recently following a call from their leader, Muqtada al-Sadr.