Two sessions of the Iraq Parliament but the presidency file is not on the agenda

Next week, the Iraqi Parliament is scheduled to hold two regular sessions in a move aimed at reactivating its work, which was suspended for about two months due to the political crisis. While the agenda of the two sessions did not include the presidency of the republic file, the Coordination Framework alliance, an ally of Iran, was not optimistic about resolving this file, which may affect the efforts to form a government.

The Parliament leadership decided to hold a session on Saturday, followed by another session to be held on Monday, and it announced the agenda for both sessions. They include several issues, including the discussion of the Iranian bombing in northern Iraq, a number of replacement MPs for the independent Sadrist Movement MPs who will be taking the constitutional oath and several draft bills will be read.

The Coordination Framework is seeking the Parliament to resume its role, along with its efforts to pressure the Kurdish forces to resolve the file of choosing a president for the republic. There have been no signs of agreement between the two main parties in Kurdistan (the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) on one candidate.

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Several mediation attempts by internal and external parties failed to reconcile the two main Kurdish parties to reach a compromise on a candidate for the presidency, as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan insists on its candidate, Barham Salih, while the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party in Erbil is set on its candidate, Rebar Ahmed Khalid.

A representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “there are no signs of a resolution for the issue soon,” noting that “consensus is difficult between the two parties, and that there are no compromises that bring them closer.”

He pointed out that “the meetings and mediations have failed so far, and we do not expect a resolution soon.”