16 April 2019 - 00:52

Kurdistan Region presidency issue to be settled in near future: official

<p style="text-align: left;">Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) politburo Fazil Mirani said on Monday, April 15, that the issue of the Kurdistan Region's presidency would be settled in the near future and that the KDP would reach an agreement with the other political parties, NRT reported.

Mirani told party-affiliated media that the KDP had reached an agreement with the Change Movement (Gorran).

“We will complete our agreement with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan [PUK] and sign it. There are negotiations between the parties and they should persuade each other,” he said.

“Discussions regarding the Region’s vice presidents are ongoing. Partisan interests should be put aside in the interest of the people.”

Since 2005, there is only one vice president position in the Kurdistan Region. It was promised to Gorran by the KDP in an agreement in February. In recent weeks, however, the PUK has demanded that a second position be created.

Earlier on Monday, Voice of America published an interview with PUK Politburo member Saadi Ahmed Pira, who hinted that the matter had been settled and that the PUK would hold the first vice president post.

The KDP has nominated current Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani as its candidate for the presidency.

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