The "Save the Homeland" coalition, which includes the Sadrist bloc, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and the Sovereignty Alliance, announced its candidates for the presidency and prime minister positions in Iraq on Wednesday.
Hassan Al-Adhari, the head of the Sadrist bloc within the coalition, stated in a statement that "the most numerous Save the Homeland coalition announces the nomination of Reber Ahmed for the presidency and Muhammad Jafar Muhammad Baqir Al-Sadr for the position of Prime Minister."
Additionally, the parliament is scheduled to hold a session on Saturday to elect the new president.
In his turn, the leader of the Sadrist Movement in Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, commented on Twitter, saying: "I hope to form a national majority government in Iraq without procrastination or delay, and I will not remain idle if the previous tragedy is repeated."
On Monday, Al-Sadr called on independent lawmakers in the Iraqi parliament to support him in forming a national majority government, emphasizing the need to "move from the neck of consensus to the space of the majority."
Al-Sadr urged in a statement posted on Twitter that independent lawmakers should not hinder the parliamentary session to elect a new president "by the blocking third, which is the result of solicitation and intimidation," as he expressed.
A leader from the Kurdistan Democratic Party confirmed last Saturday that there is currently no consensus reached regarding the presidency position. Majid Shankali, a member of the party, told the official news agency that "so far, there is no closeness between the National Union Party and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and there is no form of settlement or consensus" on the name of the new president.
He indicated that "the most likely scenario is to go with a candidate from each party, which is a repetition of the 2018 scenario but in a different format." He noted that "the candidate from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Reber Ahmed, is the closest to becoming president."
The Iraqi parliament's presidency has scheduled March 26 for the election of the president.
### 33 Candidates
There are 33 candidates competing for the presidency, including Reber Ahmed Khalid (the candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Masoud Barzani) and Barham Salih Ahmad (the candidate of the National Union Party and the current president).
The Iraqi parliament was unable to hold the session scheduled for February 7 to elect the president because only 58 out of 329 lawmakers attended, due to the division in the positions of political forces regarding the candidates of both Kurdish parties.
Article 70 of the Iraqi constitution states, "The Council of Representatives elects the President of the Republic from among the candidates with a two-thirds majority of its members."
According to a political custom followed in Iraq since 2006, the Kurds hold the position of president, the Sunnis head the parliament, and the Shiites lead the government.
