SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Iraqi Council of Representatives on Saturday is scheduled once again to elect a new president for the country amid uncertainty if the session would be held due to a lack of quorum.
Parliament has issued a final list of 40 candidates for the post, a largely ceremonial role reserved for the Kurds.
Barham Salih, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) candidate, will contest Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP)Rebar Ahmed, a candidate for Save the Nation alliance between the Sadrist Movement, Sunnis and the KDP.
Lack of a quorum – two-thirds of the house’s 329 members – and legal issues have held up the vote, deepening war-scarred Iraq’s political uncertainty.
The president has to then name a prime minister, who must be backed by the largest bloc in parliament.
Politicians and analysts believe the Iraqi parliament would fail to hold the session due to a lack of quorum and disagreements between the parties.
Even if the election goes ahead as scheduled from 11:00 a.m., “it will not be decided from the first round,” in which the winner needs a two-thirds majority, AFP quoted political analyst Ihsan al-Shammari as saying.
The candidate with most votes would run uncontested in a second-round ballot but would again need to secure a two-thirds majority.
