ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Fuad Hussein, the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) failed choice for the Iraqi presidency, thanked his supporters and called for Kurdistani parties to preserve their unity.

“We were very happy when my respectful brother Nechirvan Barzani and respectful Bafel Talabani reached an agreement to present one candidate to the Iraqi Council of Representatives. That agreement had been reached two hours prior to the Iraqi parliament’s session,” Fuad Hussein wrote in a letter on Thursday.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) claims there was no official agreement with the KDP in the hours before Barham Salih was elected as Iraqi president on Tuesday. The KDP claims there was an agreement and it was violated by the PUK.

Hussein, not currently a member of either party, said he was surprised that Salih hadn’t withdrawn his candidacy and had entered into alliances with Iraqi politicians whom were “ignoring the agreed mechanism and didn’t keep their promise.”

Hussein thanked KDP President Masoud Barzani, its party’s negotiators and advocates, foreign backers, different Iraqi groups, Kurdish and Iraqi journalists, and media outlets.

“Here, we reiterate that our work in the long-lasting struggle has always been for the sake of the unity of Kurdistani parties,” added Hussein.

It was the first public comment by Hussein after the events on Wednesday in Baghdad.

“That is why, from this standpoint, all have the obligation to preserve the unity of Kurdistan’s people,” Hussein asserted.

After Salih’s ascension, he tasked Shiite politician Adil Abdul-Mahdi with forming the next government within the constitutional timeline 30 days.