Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Co-President Bafel Talabani. (file)
PM:08:55:02/10/2021
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SULAIMANI — In the last two days, Kurdistan Democratic Party
(KDP) leader Masoud Barzani reportedly reached a pre-election agreement with
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Co-President Bafel Talabani that would see
the KDP take over the Iraqi presidency as a part of the post-October 10
government formation process.
According to information provided to NRT, the PUK will receive
other federal government and ministerial positions and a deputy speakership in
the Council of Representatives in return for giving up the presidency, which
has been held by the PUK since 2005, when Jalal Talabani became president.
The report comes just over a week before Iraqi parliamentary
elections on October 10 and in the midst of a power struggle within the PUK
pitting Bafel Talabani and his younger brother, Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG) Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, against the other PUK co-president,
Lahur Sheikh Jangi.
The Talabanis are seen as being closer with the Barzanis and
the KDP, while Sheikh Jangi has a more antagonistic relationship with them.
Speculation has been rife among observers about how dearly
the KDP covets the Iraqi presidency after a failed attempt to secure it for
itself in 2018, when KDP member Fuad Hussein was defeated by current president
and PUK member Barham Salih. Hussein went on to become finance minister under
Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi and currently serves as foreign minister under
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
Former Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari and Hussein are
among the likeliest KDP candidates for the presidency.
The arrangement reportedly also involved a payment of $100
million by the KDP to the PUK co-leader if he agreed to the deal, which was
valid regardless of the PUK’s result in the election but was only on the table
before voters cast ballots.
(NRT Digital Media)