Leading Iraqi Kurdish party nominates Rebar Ahmed for presidency

Interior Minister holds close ties with the ruling Barzani family

A boy carries a Kurdish flag on top of a car with pictures of former Iraqi Kurdish president Masoud Barzani and his son, Masrour, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on the windows, in theShow more

Rebar Ahmed has been nominated by one of the leading Kurdish political parties to run for the Iraqi presidency.

Mr Ahmed, 54, has served as the Kurdistan Region’s Interior Minister since 2019, and is known to have close ties with Kurdistan’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

“After careful consideration and a meeting with Mr Barzani, the Kurdistan Democratic Party has decided to nominate Rebar Ahmed for the presidency as we see him fit for the post,” a party member told The National.

The politician stands against 25 candidates approved by the Iraqi Parliament running for the role, including current President Barham Salih.

The decision to nominate Mr Ahmed follows the disqualification of the party's first nominee Hoshyar Zebari.

He was Iraq's finance minister but was removed from office after a vote of no confidence over alleged corruption and misuse of public funds.

Complaints were made against Mr Zebari's nomination on the grounds that his running would have been “unconstitutional” due to outstanding corruption charges against him.

Iraq’s political system is divided among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political parties.

Top positions such as the presidency are reserved for a nomination from one of the two main Kurdish parties, while Shiites get the prime minister’s post and Sunnis get the parliamentary speaker's position.

President Barham Salih will remain in office until further notice, after a ruling by the Federal Supreme Court late on Sunday.

He has been nominated for a second term by the Kurdish Patriotic Union party.