BAGHDAD: The Iraqi parliament on Tuesday scheduled a March 26 session for deputies to hold a delayed vote on the country’s president.
Parliament also released a final list of 40 candidates for the post, a largely ceremonial role reserved for the Kurds.
Among the frontrunners are Barham Saleh, the incumbent and member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and Rebar Ahmed of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the PUK’s rival.
Lack of a quorum and legal issues have held up the contest, adding to war-scarred Iraq’s political uncertainty because the president has to name a prime minister backed by the largest bloc in parliament.
On February 13, the supreme court ruled out a bid by veteran politician Hoshyar Zebari backed by the KDP to run, after a complaint filed against him over years-old corruption charges.
Iraqi politics were thrown further into turmoil following the October 2021 general elections, which were marred by a record-low turnout, post-election threats and violence, and a delay of several months until final results were confirmed.
Intense negotiations among political groups have since failed to form a majority parliamentary coalition to appoint a new prime minister to succeed Mustafa Al-Kadhemi.
The largest political bloc led by firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, had backed Zebari for the presidency.
Tensions rose Sunday with Iranian missile strikes on Irbil, capital of an autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
Tehran said the attack targeted Israeli sites, but Kurdish authorities denied any such presence.
Iraq MPs to vote for president on March 26
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Iraq MPs to vote for president on March 26
- Parliament also released a final list of 40 candidates for the post, a largely ceremonial role reserved for the Kurds
- Among the frontrunners are Barham Saleh, the incumbent and member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
Syrian government announces ceasefire in Aleppo
- Syrian government forces have been fighting the Kurdish-led SDF force in Aleppo, where at least 21 people have been killed in several days of clashes
DAMASCUS: Damascus: Syria’s defense ministry announced a ceasefire in several neighborhoods of Aleppo on Friday after days of deadly clashes with Kurdish fighters.
“To prevent any slide toward a new military escalation within residential neighborhoods, the Ministry of Defense announces ... a ceasefire in the vicinity of the Sheikh Maqsoud, Alashrafieh, and Bani Zeid neighborhoods of Aleppo, effective from 3:00 am,” the ministry wrote in a statement.
Syrian government forces have been fighting the Kurdish-led SDF force in Aleppo, where at least 21 people have been killed in several days of clashes.
Both sides have traded blame over who started the clashes on Tuesday, which comes as implementation stalls on a deal to merge the Kurds’ administration and military into the government.
The worst violence in Aleppo since Syria’s Islamist authorities took power has also highlighted regional tensions between Damascus ally Turkiye and Israel, which condemned what it described as attacks against the Kurds.
