Today’s parliamentary session in Baghdad had to be postponed.Image: keystone
Feb 1, 2026, 3:47 p.mFeb 1, 2026, 3:47 p.m
In Iraq, a new attempt in parliament to elect a head of state for the Arab country has failed. The election meeting planned for today has been postponed again, according to sources from the media office in Parliament. The Kurdish blocs were therefore unable to agree on which candidate they would nominate for the office. Because many MPs did not show up for the meeting, Parliament did not have a quorum.
After the parliamentary elections in Iraq almost two months ago, a president must first be elected, who will then nominate a candidate for the – politically even more important – office of prime minister. According to the proportional system for the distribution of power in Iraq, a Kurdish politician usually serves as president. The Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani confirmed that there was still no agreement on the occupation.
A few days ago, a planned session in parliament to elect the president was postponed. As before, the process until a new government is formed could drag on for weeks or even months.
The Iraqi constitution actually prescribes clear rules and time periods for this. However, the political blocs – especially Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties – often use the procedure to obtain concessions from other groups or to swap important offices. Since 2005, the average time between an election in Iraq and the formation of a government has been around seven months. (sda/dpa)
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