Kurdistan Region President and Prime Minister Withhold Congratulations from Iraq’s New President

Peregraf — More than 24 hours after Nizar Amedi was elected President of Iraq, the Kurdistan Region's top leadership has not issued any formal congratulations, highlighting deep political divisions within Kurdish politics.

Nechirvan Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region and First Deputy President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region and Vice President of the KDP, have remained silent despite a wave of congratulatory messages from Iraqi factions and international actors. Both positions are official posts that represent the entire people of Kurdistan, not a single political party.

Their silence reflects a broader dispute between the two dominant Kurdish parties — the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — over the Iraqi presidency, a post that has been held by a Kurdish politician by convention since 2003.

Amedi, who served as Head of the PUK's Political Bureau in Baghdad prior to his election, was elected by Iraq's parliament on April 11, 2026, after the two parties failed to agree on a unified nominee. The KDP boycotted the parliamentary session, refusing to take part in the vote.

Following the election, the KDP's Political Bureau rejected Amedi's legitimacy, stating that it does not consider him to represent the Kurdish majority and will not engage with him.

The party also criticized the conduct of the parliamentary session, arguing that it violated internal procedures of Iraq's Council of Representatives, and that the session's agenda had been set without proper adherence to parliamentary bylaws.

In addition, the KDP objected to the selection process itself. The party described the presidency as a national entitlement for the people of Kurdistan rather than for any single party, and said the post had been decided outside what it called the "Kurdish mechanism" of consensus.

The dispute underscores ongoing tensions between the KDP and the PUK, whose rivalry has repeatedly delayed the selection of Iraq's president in recent years. The presidency is a largely ceremonial role but plays a key part in Iraq's power-sharing system, including formally tasking a prime minister-designate to form a government.

In a further escalation, the KDP announced it had recalled its representatives from both Iraq's parliament and the federal government to the Kurdistan Region for consultations on next steps.