SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq’s Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Friday called on the lawmakers not to vote for candidates for the position of Iraqi presidency if they don’t meet the presidential requirements.
“If the candidate of our ally Kurdistan Democratic Party [KDP] or any other candidate for the position of the Republic’s president doesn’t meet all the requirements, I call on the reform representatives not to vote from him,” Sadr said in a tweet.
“We are advocates of reform, not advocates of authority and rule,” he added.
Sadr’s tweet came after Iraqis protested in Baghdad in the past days against the nomination of Hashyar Zebari as a candidate for the Iraqi presidency due to corruption allegations against him.
Zebari was nominated by the KDP.
In 2016, Iraqi parliament sacked Zebari from his post as finance minister over alleged corruptions and misuse of public funds. Zebari denied the accusations.
Zebari, who also served as Iraq’s foreign minister for more than a decade, lost a no-confidence vote by 158 to 77.
The Council of Representatives, which re-elected Mohammed al-Halbousi as its speaker, has set February 7 as a date to hold a session to elect a new president for the country.
On Monday, the Iraqi parliament announced names of 25 candidates including president Barham Salih and Zebari for the country’s presidency.
Salih, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) candidate, officially announced his candidacy for the second term of the presidency on Tuesday, saying he had proposed projects to eliminate corruption and to revive the country and its resources.
“The president of the Republic must be the president of all Iraqis,” Salih said in a televised speech. “I am committed to supporting national people and I won’t allow any pressure that disrespects the position of president.”
Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Iraq’s presidency — a largely ceremonial role — is held by a Kurd, while the prime minister is Shia and the parliament speaker is Sunni.
According to an agreement among the Kurdish parties, the PUK determines the candidate for the Iraqi presidency, and the KDP maintains the presidency of the Kurdistan Region.
No single party holds an outright majority, so the next leader will be voted in by whichever coalition can negotiate allies to become the biggest bloc — which then elects Iraq’s president, who then appoints a prime minister.
In previous parliaments, parties from Iraq’s Shia majority have struck compromise deals to work together and form a government.
But Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has repeatedly said the next prime minister will be chosen by his movement.
So rather than strike an alliance with the powerful Shia Coordination Framework — which includes the pro-Iran al-Fateh alliance, the political arm of the former paramilitary Hashed al-Shaabi — Sadr has forged a new coalition, that includes Sunnis and Kurds.
