Barzani calls for new mechanism to pick Kurdish nominee for Iraq president

ERBIL — Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani on Monday called for changing the way Kurdish parties choose their nominee for Iraq’s presidency, urging a unified Kurdish stance and arguing the post should be treated as a Kurdish entitlement rather than the preserve of any single party.

“The position of President of the Republic of Iraq should be recognized by all Kurdistani parties as a Kurdish entitlement,” Barzani said in a written statement, adding that the president should “genuinely represent the people of Kurdistan.”

Under Iraq’s informal ethno-sectarian power-sharing arrangement, the presidency is traditionally held by a Kurd, the prime ministership by a Shiite politician and the speakership of parliament by a Sunni politician.

“To ensure this representation, the method of election must change, and no party should consider the presidency its private ownership or exclusive right,” Barzani said.

He proposed three possible approaches for selecting a candidate: nomination through the Kurdistan Parliament, consensus among all Kurdish parties, or a decision by Kurdish lawmakers and blocs in Iraq’s parliament. Barzani said the nominee “does not necessarily have to be from the KDP or the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan,” and could be “from another party or an independent figure,” provided the person has broad Kurdish support.

“What matters most,” he said, “is that the person enjoys Kurdish consensus and truly represents the people of Kurdistan in the position of President of the Republic of Iraq.”

Since Iraq’s post-2003 political system was established, the presidency has been held by figures closely linked to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, including Jalal Talabani, Fuad Masum, Barham Salih and current President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, who took office in 2022.