ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A senior member of Iraq’s main Sunni Arab party, the Takaddum Front, sparked controversy on Sunday by suggesting that the presidency - traditionally reserved for Kurds - should not be limited to the country’s second-largest ethnic group, challenging Iraq’s long-standing power-sharing arrangement.
“What is the harm in Takaddum taking the presidency?” Razzaq al-Obaidi told Rudaw, noting that “there is no constitutional provision that assigns specific leadership posts to any component or sect.”
Following the 2003 US-led invasion, Iraq’s informal ethno-sectarian system has allocated the prime ministership to Shiites, the speakership to Sunni Arabs, and the presidency to Kurds.
The Iraqi presidency is currently held by Abdul Latif Rashid of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), while Sunni Arab politician Mahmoud al-Mashhadani serves as parliament speaker. The federal government is led by Shiite Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
In Iraq’s latest legislative elections, Takaddum Front won the largest share of Sunni votes, securing more than 945,000 ballots.