Amiri received the KDP candidate, Fuad Hussein, and an accompanying delegation in his office in Baghdad.
“The meeting was part of efforts to secure the post of the presidency for our [KDP] candidate,” Shwan Mohammed Taha, director of the KDP’s office in Baghdad and present at the meeting, told Kurdistan 24, adding that “Hussein is set to visit more parties today.”
Although there are currently eight candidates for the presidency, it is likely the competition will come down to the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which has nominated Barham Salih. The latter left the party he recently formed, the Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ), to secure his nomination with the PUK.
Negotiations have intensified between the leadership of both parties and the heads of major Iraqi parties over the presidency. Concurrent with Hussein, Salih is also meeting with chief figures in Baghdad to secure his win.
“Due to the strong position of the KDP as the leading Kurdish party [in Iraq], some [parliamentary] entities welcome our party’s candidate,” Taha claimed. “Others have stressed that the Kurds should present only one candidate to avoid future internal disputes.”
He then suggested that Kurdish parliamentary factions meet ahead of the Iraqi legislative session to elect a new president to reach a consensus on a single candidate for the position.
Lawmakers were set to gather on Tuesday to elect a president among the Kurdish candidates brought forth by various parties. However, parliament changed their schedule a week earlier, issuing a reminder that the constitutional deadline is on Oct. 02.
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