Iraq presidential vote delayed as Kurdish blocs struggle to pick candidate

"Iraq follows a sectarian quota system, according to which the post of the prime minister goes to a Shia, the parliament's speaker is a Sunni, and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd. Usually, in an agreement between the two main Kurdish parties, a PUK member holds the presidency. In contrast, the president and regional leader of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region are selected from the KDP."

"However, in this instance, the KDP announced its own candidate, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, for the election. Reporting from the capital, Baghdad, Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Abdelwahed said whoever is nominated from the two Kurdish parties still needs the approval from the Shia and Sunni blocs in the parliament. After the election, the new president will have 15 days to appoint a prime minister, who is widely expected to be the former leader, Nouri al-Maliki."

"Al-Maliki, 75, has already served as Iraq's prime minister for two terms from 2006 to 2014 before he quit under pressure from the United States. He is seen as being close to Iran. On Saturday, the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shia parties which holds a parliamentary majority, endorsed Maliki. The next day, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned against a pro-Iranian government in Iraq."

Iraq's parliament postponed the presidential vote to allow the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) more consultations to agree on a candidate, following a request by both parties. The political system reserves the presidency for a Kurd under a sectarian quota while the prime minister is a Shia and the parliamentary speaker a Sunni. Traditionally the PUK supplies the president and the KDP the regional leader, but the KDP nominated Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein. Any Kurdish nominee requires approval from Shia and Sunni blocs. The new president will have 15 days to appoint a prime minister, with Nouri al-Maliki widely expected and endorsed by the Coordination Framework, while the United States warned against a pro-Iranian government.

Read at www.aljazeera.com