SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Leadership Council said on Sunday it will “fully” support Barham Salih as its candidate for the Iraqi presidency.
The PUK Leadership Council held a meeting in which Bafel Talabani attended to discuss the political situation in Iraq and the Kurdish constitutional entitlements in a new Iraqi government, it said in a statement.
The council said the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) had “individually and outside the will and the unity of Kurdish nation and the Kurdistan’s parties taken steps and reached an agreement with some political parties and has submitted its candidate for the Iraqi presidency in that framework.”
“Bafel Jalal Talabani highlighted the current developments in detail and emphasized that if the other party has submitted its candidate without the principle of agreements, the PUK will also have the right to consider the position of Iraqi President as the Kurdish entitlement and the PUK. Therefore, it will defend its right and will not compromise,” the statement read.
“Rumors that were said that the KDP only had issues with the PUK’s candidate and that if it changed the candidate, the KDP would have withdrawn its candidate were untrue. Their main goal was to obtain the post of the Iraqi presidency without cooperation with the Kurdistani parties, especially the PUK.”
The PUK Leadership Council decided to “provide full support for the success of the PUK’s candidate for the position,” the statement said, referring to current Iraqi President Barham Salih.
