Press Release from the Political Bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party

To the beloved people of Kurdistan and Iraq,

Today, 11 April 2026, a session of the Iraqi Council of Representatives was held to proceed with the election of the President of the Republic in a manner that departed from the Council’s own approved internal procedures. The Presidency of the Council of Representatives, disregarding its rules of procedure, set a date for the session in a way that constitutes a violation of the law.

Furthermore, the candidate put forward for the position of President of the Republic was selected outside the Kurdistani framework, despite the fact that this office is an entitlement of the people of Kurdistan as a whole, not of any single party. Nevertheless, the candidate was nominated by one party and endorsed by certain other Iraqi components and political forces.

Accordingly, we reject this method of election and will not recognize anyone chosen in this manner as a representative of the proud majority of the people of Kurdistan, nor will we engage with them.

For this reason, our parliamentary bloc boycotted today’s session of the Council of Representatives. As a result of this boycott, our party’s candidate should have been removed from the presidential election list.

At this stage, in order to assess the situation and conduct consultations, both of our party’s blocs in the Council of Representatives and in the Federal Government of Iraq will return to the Kurdistan Region.

Political Bureau

Kurdistan Democratic Party

11 April 2026