Iraqi Parliament announces 15 candidates for republic presidency

BAGHDAD, Jan 14 (KUNA) -- The Iraqi Parliament announced on Wednesday the names of 15 candidates for the position of President of the Republic who meet the legal requirements for nomination, in accordance with Law No. 8 of 2012 governing presidential nominations.
In a statement, the Parliament listed the 15 nominees, including Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, the main candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Nizar Amedi, the prominent candidate of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
According to political convention in Iraq, the presidency is traditionally allocated to the Kurdish component, while the positions of parliamentary speaker and prime minister are reserved for the Sunni and Shia components, respectively. The two main Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan Region - the KDP and PUK- usually compete for the presidency.
Under constitutional timelines, the Iraqi Parliament is required to elect a new president within one month of the first parliamentary session, which ended with the election of the Speaker of Parliament, a deadline set to expire by the end of January. (end) ahh.aa