Iraqi parliament denies postponement of presidential election session

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi parliament on Monday denied reports that Tuesday’s parliamentary session dedicated to electing the country’s president had been postponed.

In a statement issued late Monday, parliament said that “the Tuesday session dedicated to electing the president will be held as scheduled at its designated time,” dismissing circulating rumors of a delay as false.

The clarification came after outgoing Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) candidate for the presidency, told Rudaw earlier on Monday that Tuesday’s session would not include the election of the president.

Under Article 70 of Iraq’s constitution, parliament elects the president by a two-thirds majority of its members. If no candidate secures that threshold in the first round, a runoff is held between the two candidates who receive the highest number of votes, with the winner decided by a simple majority.

Nineteen candidates remain in the race for the largely ceremonial post, with the most prominent contenders being Hussein and Nizar Amedi, the nominee of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

The presidency has traditionally been held by a Kurd from the PUK under Iraq’s post 2003 power-sharing arrangement.

[Source: Rûdaw English]