BAGHDAD — Iraqi President Barham Salih confirmed Feb. 1 that he will seek re-election. He has served as president since 2018, and his Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party nominated him for a second term. 

The PUK's rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), has nominated the former finance and foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, for the post.

Iraq's parliament has set Feb. 7 as the date to elect the president of the republic amid unprecedented fierce competition between the two major Kurdish parties.

Since 2005, the presidency has been traditionally reserved for Kurdish parties, the prime minister position for Shiites and the parliament speaker position for Sunnis. The agreement between the KDP and the PUK has been that, while the PUK would get the Iraqi presidency, the KDP gets the Kurdistan Region of Iraq presidency. The KDP's Nechirvan Barzani is currently president of the Kurdistan Region. However, since the death of the former president and leader of the PUK, Jalal Talabani, the two parties have found themselves in conflict over positions and influence both inside and outside of the Kurdistan Region.