ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Political divisions between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have resurfaced ahead of a crucial Iraqi parliamentary session to elect the country’s president on Saturday, with both sides offering conflicting assessments of whether the required quorum will be met.
Harem Kamal Agha, head of the PUK bloc in the Iraqi Parliament, expressed confidence that the session would proceed as planned.
"The attendance quorum required to hold the Iraqi parliamentary session for the election of the President of Iraq will be met,” he told Rudaw.
Under the Iraqi Constitution, at least 220 lawmakers must be present out of the 329-member parliament to hold a valid session.
Iraq held legislative elections in early November. In late December, parliament elected its speaker and two deputies. Under Iraq’s constitution, lawmakers must elect a president within 30 days of forming parliamentary leadership, in a session requiring a two-thirds quorum - 220 out of 329 members - to convene.
Under Iraq’s informal power-sharing system, the presidency is allocated to the Kurds, the parliamentary speakership to Sunni Arabs, and the premiership to Shiite parties.
However, the disagreements between the KDP and the PUK over the position of the President have stalled the formation of the government. The parties have both nominated candidates for the position, and their failure to agree on a single joint nominee has reportedly resulted in a political deadlock.
After a president is elected - either by a two-thirds majority in the first round or a simple majority in a runoff - the president must, within 15 days of being sworn in, task the prime minister nominee from the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a government.