Taqadum candidate elected as Salahaddin governor amid KDP boycott

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Salahaddin provincial council on Thursday elected a new governor following a vote that highlighted ongoing political divisions within the province.

Council members elected Haitham Mahmoud al-Zahwan, who was backed by Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi’s Taqadum Alliance.

Yasin Mohammed Ali Dawudi, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) sole representative on the council, told Rudaw that the party backed Zahwan.

Council sources said 32 candidates registered to run for the post with the race narrowing to two candidates from rival Sunni political alliances: Zahwan from the Taqadum Alliance and Amjad Mohammed Ahmed from Azm Alliance. Azm is led by Iraqi MP Muthanna al-Samarrai who was a leading candidate for the parliament’s speaker post that ultimately went to Halbousi in December.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which has deepened ties with Samarrai’s alliance in recent years, boycotted the session, KDP council representative Tara Jalal Dawudi told Rudaw.

The Salahaddin governorship has been vacant since November when former governor, Badr al-Fahl, was sworn in as a member of Iraq’s parliament.

The election comes amid broader political uncertainty in Iraq. Ongoing disagreements between the Kurdistan Region’s ruling parties over the nomination of a presidential candidate, as well as disputes surrounding the selection of a prime minister, have stalled progress toward the formation of the next government.

Under Iraq’s informal power-sharing arrangement, the parliamentary speaker's post is allocated to Sunni Arabs, the premiership to Shiite parties, and the presidency to the Kurds. The presidency has long been held by the PUK, which created an alliance with an opposition party this week that could help the PUK again secure the post.