On Monday, President Masoud Barzani called for a Kurdish consensus on the selection of the post of the Iraqi President, a post that is reserved for the Kurdish community. 

“All Kurdistani parties must be firmly convinced that this position is the rightful share of the Kurdish people,” he said in a statement. “To ensure the President truly represents the people of Kurdistan, the selection mechanism must be reformed, and no party should treat this office as its private property or exclusive entitlement.”

Therefore, he suggested that either the Kurdistan Region Parliament designate the Kurdish representative to assume the presidency, all Kurdish parties meet and agree on a single nominee, or the Kurdish deputies and blocs in the Iraqi Council of Representatives choose a nominee.

“It is not a requirement that the President be from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) or the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan; the individual may come from another party or be an independent,” he underlined. 

“What matters most is broad Kurdish consensus and that the person faithfully represents the people of Kurdistan in the office of the President of the Republic of Iraq.”

The statement by President Masoud Barzani comes ahead of the first meeting of the Iraqi parliament after the November 11 elections, which will include the selection of the speaker and their two deputies.

The Iraqi political system is organized such that the position of Iraqi Prime Minister is reserved for a member of the Shi’a community, the position of Iraqi President is reserved for the Kurdish community, and the position of Speaker of Parliament is reserved for the Sunni community. On Monday, Haibat al-Halbousi from the Sunni Taqadum Party was elected Iraqi Parliament Speaker for the sixth legislative term.

Parliament must also elect an Iraqi president within 30 days of elections. The individual must be from the Kurdish community and will appoint a prime minister-designate from the largest bloc to form a cabinet within 15 days, or be replaced if unsuccessful.

During the Iraqi parliamentary elections on November 11, 2025, the KDP won 27 seats with more than 1.1 million votes, excluding quota seats, becoming the party with the most votes in both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.