According to the Nas Kurd news website, Soran Jamal Tahir, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) communications stated that there were no talks between the two parties at the moment regarding the relations and differences, especially over the Iraqi presidency. "But the PUK has not closed the door to dialogue with the KDP, and the way is open for negotiations permanently."

Earlier, Bafel Talabani, the PUK co-chair, said that there was still room for agreement and dialogue on the formation of a serving government in Iraq.

He added that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is in talks with Iraqi political parties and movements in Baghdad, and that the party leadership council will hold a meeting on Saturday, February 5, to discuss the results of the talks and recent developments.

It should be noted that according to an unwritten agreement between the three main factions of Iraq, namely the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis, and the political tradition of this country, the presidency post is for the Kurds, the prime minister for the Shiites and the speaker of the Iraqi parliament for the Sunnis. Among the Kurds, according to the agreements between the PUK and the KDP as the two ruling parties in the region, the position has been run by the PUK since the fall of the Ba'athist regime, and this party nominated Barham Saleh to hold this position this time and it emphasizes that the presidency is only the party's share.

The KDP, meanwhile, has nominated Hoshyar Zebari for the presidency, seeking to win the post by gaining the support of Iraq's main Sunni coalition and the Sadr movement, exacerbating differences between the Patriotic Union and the party.

Meanwhile 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.

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, the 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.”

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.

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