Iraqi parliament postpones presidential vote

By Haydar Karaalp

BAGHDAD (AA) – The Iraqi parliament failed on Monday to elect the country’s next president, postponing the vote to Tuesday.

The delay is due in large part to the country’s major Kurdish parties’ disagreement on who to nominate for the position.

Since 2003, the presidency in Iraq has been reserved for a Kurdish candidate, while a Sunni holds the position of parliament speaker and a Shia that of the prime ministry.

The two main Kurdish parties were unable to agree upon a common presidential nominee on Monday.

While it had traditionally been the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) that determined the office, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) this time fielded its own candidate, Fuad Hussein.

The PUK had nominated the former prime minister of the northern Kurdish Regional Government Barham Salih.