Barzani seeks deal to remain in power

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani is seeking a deal to remain in power as president of Kurdish region as the Kurdish parliament plans to discuss the presidency law.

The parliament will hold a session with the abolishment of the presidential system on the agenda. Barzani will not be present but his message to the MPs will be read at the parliament.

Deputy chair of Southern Kurdistan Parliament Cafer Eminki confirmed that Barzani sent a letter but did not give any details about the content.

A KDP official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that Barzani will resign from his post on 1 November.

But another KDP official, the chair of KDP’s parliamentary group Umed Hoshnav said that Barzani is seeking to extend his term as region’s president and postpone the elections for another year.

Also, officials of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan stated that resigning from the presidency is not mentioned in Barzani’s letter.

“There shouldn’t be high expectations for today’s parliamentary session. If the parliamentary term is extended for another year, the presidential term will be extended too” PUK MP Salar Mehmud posted on his Facebook account.

According to Mehmud, the abolishment of the presidential system is within parliamentary authority but warned that a change shouldn’t be expected.

Barzani became the president on 12 May 2005. He was elected president by popular vote on 25 July 2009 for another term.

But although his term ended in August 2013 the parliament decided to extend it for another year. On the summer of 2015, Barzani shut down the parliament because PUK and other fractions didn’t agree to extend Barzani’s term for another two years.