AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): On March 5, the Iraqi parliament voted to reopen the door for nominating presidential candidates. The decision came as earlier the speaker and his aides had joined the Shiite Coordination Framework (SCF) in rejection of allowing the parties to name new candidates. The argument was referred to the Federal Court, which made a decision in its session on March 1.
According to the Federal Court's ruling, the parliament speaker's decision to allow candidates to register for president post was unconstitutional and that this was legal only if the majority of the lawmakers voted in its favor under a law. As a result, the members of the parliament legalized new nominations with a new vote.
Now this decision gives nomination of Raber Ahmad, the candidate from Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), a legal path after court on February 5 barred former foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari from running for presidency. And it seems that dispute about the post is back to the Kurds.
In the new conditions, the alliance of KDP, Sadrist Movement, and Sovereignty Bloc are looking to accelerate the government formation process after electing a president. But the dispute's roots should be sought in the differences between the KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over presidency of Barham Salih, the incumbent president.
Extreme opposition to Salih stirring a duel
The KDP and PUK entered into a major duel for the presidency of Iraq in the days following the October 10, 2021 elections. Although, according to the agreement between the two major parties of the Kurdish autonomous region, reached after 2003, the presidency was traditionally given to the candidates of the PUK and its leader Jalal Talabani, from 2018 Masoud Barzani seemed unwilling to hand this position to the PUK anymore and is seeking maximum power in both Erbil and Baghdad.
The KDP, led by Masoud Barzani, first nominated former foreign and finance minister Hoshyar Zebari for the post but after objections by some political parties, the Federal Court ruled he was an illegal choic. The ruling resulted in a big confusion and frustration for Sadr-Barzani-Halbousi-Khanjar coalition as they aimed to pave the way for a new government after closing the presidential case. Next move by the KDP was nomination of Raber Ahmad as a rival to PUK's Salih.
But beyond the current rivalries between the two parties, the issue is that the KDP seeks more to remove Salih than secure the ceremonial post. This agenda is pursued while PUK is still insisting on Salih's candidacy.
Why is KDP vehemently opposed to Salih?
A set of reasons are driving the KDP's opposition to Salih retaining the presidency in Baghdad.
1. Certainly, the most important reason for anti-Salih push by Barzani is the historic defeat of the KDP candidate Fuad Masum from Salih in 2018. Since then, KDP leaders have openly expressed their anger at the loss to the PUK, and now they seem to be more eager to take revenge on Salih than to take over the presidency.
2. KDP leaders more than once objected to Salih decisions in Baghdad, arguing that he has failed to pursue Kurdish region's interests and demands. So, he needs to be replaced, they argue.
3. Many political observers suggest that the KDP has no problem re-assigning the presidency to the PUK but it wants a weak and powerless person, like their Fuad Hussein, to be named by the PUK. Perhaps this view among KDP leaders is influenced by the power situation in Kurdistan region after death of Jalal Talabani as a traditional rival to Barzani. After Talabani's death, the PUK was rocked by leadership division, resulting in downturn in its power in the region's rivalry. These conditions left Barzani rivalless. But in the meantime, Salih, as a well-known and veteran politician in the PUK, has the potential to reunite the party in the future and restore the lost position and power of this long-standing party in the autonomous region.
4. KDP leadership personally has a highly negative view of Salih as he has never chosen closeness to the party during his political life.
Al-Sadr wandering in the middle of inter-Kurdish duel
While the Kurdish parties are contesting for the president post, Muqtada al-Sadr as the winner of elections is in a state of confusion. To his frustration, the road to a new government via alliance with Barzani, al-Halbousi, and Khamis Khanjar is not as smooth as he may have thought. So far, the strategic mistakes of the KDP and its duel with the PUK have cost al-Sadr heavily. If he decides to show a green light to Raber Ahmad, he would risk enemity with a large part of the Kurdish political structure. That is not all the cost. If he decides to step into the Kurdish duel, al-Sadr has to bear the costs of competition with the large-scale Shiite structure, or SCF. All these can foist a heavy price on al-Sadr in the Iraqi politics.
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