“We welcome the KDP's decision. This is a good step forward,” PUK politburo member Sadi Ahmed Pira said during an interview with Anadolu Agency on Monday, adding that that the PUK's leadership council would select a nominee for deputy prime minister at its next meeting.

He further added that the KDP would not have any say in who the PUK chooses as its candidate.

Earlier in the day, the KDP nominated current prime minister Nechirvan Barzani to fill the presidency that his uncle Masoud Barzani vacated over a year ago in the aftermath of the independence referendum.

Masoud's son, Masrour, who is currently Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council, was nominated to take over from his cousin as prime minister.

The KDP's foreign relations office said in a tweet that the presidency would be decided by a vote in parliament, where the party holds a 45-seat plurality. The temporary speaker has not commented on possible procedures for selecting the new president.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has no formal, written constitution.

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