Kurdistan Parliament announced opens door for nominations of presidential candidates to the Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdistan Parliament announced that candidates for the post of President of the autonomous Kurdistan Region can now be nominated or present themselves starting Sunday 11:00 am until Wednesday 11:00 am.

The announcement, which was issued by the parliament's leadership, highlights three conditions mentioned in the amended Kurdistan Region Presidency Law.

The candidate should not be younger than 40 years old, must be a resident of the Kurdistan Region, and maintain all civil and political rights.

On Wednesday, parliament, by majority vote, approved the draft bill entitled the Reactivation of the Office of the President of the Kurdistan Region – Iraq and Amending the Method of Electing the President Till the Ratification of a Constitution.

The key amendment in the presidency law is about the way the President is elected. Until now, the President of the Kurdistan Region was elected directly, by the people through a popular vote. The amendment, however, changes the mechanism and instead, allows for the president to be elected by parliament, with a 50+1 vote.

This process would continue until parliament is able to ratify its constitution for the Kurdistan Region, which would outline the official procedure for appointments to the post and the powers it would wield.

The Kurdistan Region held its parliamentary election on Sept. 30, with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) securing 45 seats in the 111-seat legislature. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Change Movement (Gorran) came in second and third place with 21 and 12 seats, respectively.

KDP, which won the last parliamentary election with 45 seats, is likely to win presidency. Senior officials from the party said Nechirvan Barzani, the current prime minister of Kurdistan Region, is the sole candidate of the KDP. The KDP has already nominated the current Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Masrour Barzani as their candidate to form the new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet as a Prime Minister. 

The nomination is open from Sunday 11:00 am till Wednesday 11:00 am, parliament announced. It has also introduced a key amendment to the Presidency Law: the next president, for the first time, will be elected by the parliament, not a public vote.