KDP Leader Barzani: Delaying Prime Minister Selection While Pushing Pr

KDP President Masoud Barzani rejected attempts to hold Iraq's presidential election while the prime minister selection remains stalled, calling the approach a violation of political partnership.

What Barzani Said

On April 10, 2026, Barzani posted on X:

"It is unacceptable that some parties within the Coordination Framework push the presidential election forward while deliberately delaying the prime minister selection."
"No constitutional step will be taken on the presidency until a prime minister candidate is determined."
KDP demanded that all parties attend the next parliamentary session with full participation.

Background: Iraq's Government Formation Crisis

Iraq held federal elections in November 2025. Since then, forming a government has been deadlocked. The Coordination Framework (the dominant Shia alliance) nominated former PM Nouri al-Maliki, but the Trump administration publicly rejected him as "a very bad choice."

The Package Deal Dispute

KDP insisted that the presidency and prime ministry must be resolved as a single package, meaning no presidential vote until there is agreement on who becomes prime minister. The Coordination Framework and PUK wanted to elect the president first and deal with the PM later.

This is not just procedural bickering. In Iraq's unwritten power-sharing system, the presidency goes to a Kurd, the PM to a Shia Arab, and the speaker to a Sunni Arab. If the president is elected first, the Kurds lose their main bargaining chip in negotiations over the PM and cabinet positions.

Kurdistan Region's Own Crisis

Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Region itself has been without a government for over 18 months since the October 2024 parliamentary election. KDP won 39 seats, PUK won 23, but they cannot agree on power-sharing. The core disputes are over the Interior Ministry (traditionally KDP-controlled, now demanded by PUK), whether to introduce rotating premiership, and the distribution of security portfolios.