Observers believe that the dispute between the two main Kurdish parties, the Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and their struggle over the presidency of Iraq, has become open and public, and that things are heading towards a re-scenario of 2018, when the two parties entered into a battle with two candidates to decide who would take the position.
According to well-informed Kurdish political sources, who refused to reveal her name, she spoke to Sky News Arabia, “The President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Pavel Jalal Talabani, adheres to the candidacy of the current Iraqi president, Barham Salih, for a second term, as this is an entitlement to the union and it is not permissible to interfere in its choices, but the party The KDP refuses to re-nominate Saleh, asking the PUK to choose another candidate or at least put forward several candidates.
The sources add: “The Democrat waited until the last minute for the Union to propose a name other than Barham Salih, but the opposite party stuck to its candidate, and so the Kurdistan Democratic Party presented its candidate as well as a reaction, a member of the party’s political bureau, Hoshyar Zebari, who is one of the prominent leaders in it and the uncle of President The party, Massoud Barzani, and the nomination of the personality of Bozen Zebari mean that the Kurdistan Democratic Party is serious about taking the presidency of Iraq this time.”
However, observers believe that the two Kurdish parties are ultimately governed by consensus on one candidate, if they do not want the result of their sharp dispute not to negatively affect the internal situation in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and the delicate and delicate balance of power in it, and that the repetition of the presidential battle between them, as happened in 2018, will contribute In weakening the position of the Kurds in Baghdad.
Other observers express their fear that this conflict in Baghdad between the two parties will be reflected in the Iraqi Kurdish region, warning of the worst, and the possibility of the return of the two-administration system in Iraqi Kurdistan.
In this context, researcher and political writer, Tariq Jawhar, said in an interview with Sky News Arabia: “Unfortunately, it seems that the 2018 scenario is repeated to the letter, and this is a very negative indicator and weakens the effectiveness of the Kurdish role in the Iraqi equation, and diverts the decision on the entitlement of the Kurds in the presidency of the republic. In the hands of the other parliamentary blocs, while it is assumed that those who decide the fate of those who will take this sovereign position, are the Kurds of Iraq in the first place.
And he continues: “The Kurdistan Democratic Party went on trying to obtain the presidency of the republic, after it won the share of the Kurdish component in the Presidency of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, by electing Shakhwan Abdullah, deputy speaker of parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, which represents a breach of Kurdish balances not only in Baghdad, but also in Kurdistan region as well, and it will have very negative repercussions on political stability in the region and even in Iraq as a whole.”
For his part, the writer and political analyst, Ali Al-Baydar, said in an interview with Sky News Arabia that “what is happening in the political disputes and competitions in Iraq is a healthy condition to correct the distortions of the Iraqi political scene, and create a state of rebellion against some of the norms on which the political process in the country is built.” After the year 2003, especially since there have been great changes in the region and even the world, and accordingly there have been changes in the moods of the Iraqis and the degree of awareness they have about the flaws in the democratic process in their country has increased.”
He added: “The Kurdish house remains the most stable for the other Iraqi components, despite the intensity of this burning competition between the Kurds, which will not reach the level of breaking the bone, because they have common fateful issues, and for this they are ready to make painful and major concessions to each other, and for this we may witness Soon breakthroughs in this file, and the crystallization of consensus between the two main Kurdish parties competing for the presidency of Iraq.”
Electoral entitlement has now become the decisive factor in determining political size and positions, especially the sovereign ones in Iraq, as al-Baydar explains, adding: “For this and the fact that the Kurdistan Democratic Party is the first Kurdish according to the results of the recent elections, it has the right to determine the identity of the President of the Iraqi Republic, and to win this sovereign position. “.
Over the past four electoral cycles, the Kurds have held the presidency of Iraq since 2006, as the three presidents of the republic, who have succeeded in the position are from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, through the Secretary-General of the party Jalal Talabani, the position for two consecutive terms, as the first elected and Kurdish president in the history Iraq.
Talabani was succeeded by the leader of his party Fuad Masum in the presidency in 2014, and he was succeeded in 2018 by the current Iraqi President Barham Salih, after a heated competition with his rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party candidate Fuad Hussein, who is now the Iraqi foreign minister.
Observers of the scene expect that if the two parties reach a consensus formula at the last minute, by adopting the scenario of excluding Barham Salih, for example, the prominent names being circulated for candidacy for the post of Iraqi president are Latif Rashid, the former Iraqi Minister of Water Resources, and Mullah Bakhtiar. , a member of the Supreme Political Council for the interests of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and Muhammad Saber, the former representative of Iraq to the United Nations in Geneva.
According to the prevailing custom in Iraq after 2003, the position of the president of Iraq goes to the Kurds, the prime ministership to the Shiites, and the presidency of the parliament to the Sunnis.
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