The Iraqi Council of Representatives postponed the election of a new president for the country until further notice, after the quorum could not be completed due to the boycott of parliamentary blocs of political forces, including the Sadrist movement, led by Muqtada al-Sadr, the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance headed by Khamis al-Khanjar, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barzani.
The Iraqi constitution stipulates that the president of the republic shall be elected within a period of 30 days, from the first session of the new parliament, which was held early last month.
new stage
With the parliament’s announcement yesterday, opening the door for candidacy again for the upcoming position, the presidential race is entering a new phase, amid sharp criticism directed at the Presidency; Because of this measure, which was considered a step to save the KDP.
This party wants to assign the position of President of the Republic to its leader, Hoshyar Zebari, a veteran of the Iraqi political process. However, he faced lawsuits on corruption charges, after which the Federal Court suspended his candidacy procedures, pending their settlement.
Iraqi observers promised that opening the door for candidacy was a step that came to open the door for the Kurdistan Democratic Party to present more candidates for the position, and to proceed with the “triple agreement” that includes Muqtada al-Sadr, Massoud Barzani and Muhammad al-Halbousi.
This agreement stipulates that Al-Halbousi will take over the presidency of the parliament, which has already happened, provided that the position of the President of the Republic will be assigned to the Kurdistan Democratic Party, while a candidate from the Sadrist bloc is presented to the position of prime minister.
The press circles in Iraq are concerned about the alternatives that the Kurdistan Democratic Party will present to the presidency, after Barzani’s fortunes declined, while the media and political circles are circulating three candidates for the position, namely, the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, and the current Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein, in addition to the leader in Party Fadel Mirani.
Nechirvan enjoys wide popular acceptance in societal circles, even Kurdish, in terms of his calmness, poise, lack of delinquency in critical and difficult situations, and his relative distance from political turmoil, but his lack of good command of the Arabic language may be an obstacle to his inauguration as President of the Republic.
The Triple Alliance is cohesive
In this context, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party confirmed, “There is almost agreement to present a number of candidates, which is a step that was supposed to be taken previously, in anticipation of such a scenario, but now that the door for candidacy is opened again, the party will have more than one candidate, to proceed with the completion of the elections.” Staff of the government,” noting that “the party will hold intensive meetings, to come up with a unified vision and present an acceptable personality, and others in reserve for approval by the Federal Court.”
The member, who refused to reveal his name to “Sky News Arabia”, believes that “the tripartite alliance concluded with Muqtada al-Sadr and al-Halbousi is still coherent, and has a clear line, as al-Sadr rejected all the offers that he received from other political forces, siding with them, or dismantling this The coalition,” noting that “Iran sought with all its weight to break up this political grouping, but it was not able.”
The issue of violating the Iraqi constitution, and the failure to choose a new president of the republic in the time extended period, sparked widespread anger in legal circles, amid questions about the reason why the deputies did not attend that crucial session.
Iraqi observers say that although the political blocs repeatedly violated the constitution, these violations were not so clear, as those parties are looking for legal exits and arbitrary interpretations, but what happened during the presidential election session was scandalous.
Political analyst Najm al-Qassab believes that “there is a determination to install the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s candidate, whoever he is as president of the republic, and this is within the tripartite agreement, to be matched by the passing of the Sadrist movement’s candidate for the position of prime minister.”
Al-Qassab added in a statement to “Sky News Arabia” that “the Kurdistan Democratic Party is determined to pass its candidate for the presidency, and does not want to repeat the scenario of 2018, which means that it will push a number of candidates for this position, in anticipation of any emergency.”
