"Iraqi President Barham Salih has told him that 'only if Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, is nominated to run for office,' the presidency will withdraw its candidacy for the post," Abdullah al-Kharibat, a leader of Iraq's al-Taqdam party, was quoted as saying by Shafaq News.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Massoud Barzani, has nominated the current Minister of the Interior, Riber Ahmad, to run for the presidency of Iraq, in order to compete with the current president of Iraq and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leading member Salih.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has held the Iraqi presidency since the overthrow of the former Iraqi regime in 2003, but the KDP's 31 seats in the recent parliamentary elections, compared to only PUK'17 seats , has urged the KDP to nominate a candidate for this position.
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