The Iraqi parliament fails once again to hold a session to elect a president.
The Iraqi parliament fails once again to hold a session to elect a president.
2026-02-01 01:17
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The Iraqi parliament failed once again on Sunday to hold the session dedicated to electing the president of the republic, due to the failure of the two main Kurdish parties (the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) to agree on a candidate for this position.
According to a brief statement issued by the council’s media department, the session was postponed until further notice due to the lack of a quorum.
In this regard, a parliamentary source told Shafaq News Agency that the reason for postponing the session was the lack of any political agreement between the blocs on electing the president of the republic.
There is competition and division among the Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni parties over the Kurdistan Democratic Party candidate and the Patriotic Union candidate.
He added that the number of MPs present at today’s session does not exceed 120, and everyone is waiting for the results of the Coordination Framework delegation’s visit to the region.
The source added that the results of the visit of the Coordination Framework delegation to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah will decide the matter, and in light of that, a new date will be set for the session to elect the President of the Republic.
Earlier today, Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region and the second deputy leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, confirmed to journalists that the two parties had not reached an agreement on the position of President of Iraq, and that they would proceed with presenting their respective candidates, Fuad Hussein and Nizar Amidi, to compete in Parliament.
It is worth noting that the Speaker of Parliament, Hebat al-Halbousi, decided last Tuesday to postpone the session to elect the President of the Republic due to the lack of a legal quorum, indicating that the number of attendees was only 85 MPs.
Al-Halbousi said that he also received official requests from the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to postpone the session, in order to give more time for understanding and agreement between the two parties.
He explained that the decision to postpone was based on the lack of a quorum required for the session to be held, in addition to the requests submitted by the two main Kurdish parties.
A parliamentary source told Shafaq News Agency that holding a session to elect the President of the Republic is now contingent on the approval of the Speaker of Parliament, an understanding between the major political blocs, and the opinion of the Supreme Judicial Council, as the constitutional deadline approaches, amid expectations that the session will be postponed.
The source indicated that there was an agreement between the Kurdish parties and the Coordination Framework to postpone the meeting, and that an inquiry was sent to the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, regarding the possibility of holding the session later.
The constitution stipulates that the president must be elected within a period not exceeding 30 days from the date of the first session of the House of Representatives. Calculating this period from the first session held on December 29, 2025, the time limit is close to the night of January 28, 2026.
shafaq.com
