Rebar Ahmed has been nominated by one of the leading Kurdish political parties in Iraq to run for the Iraqi presidency.
Ahmed, who has served as the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government’s Interior Minister since 2019, is known to have close ties with Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.
A party member told reporters, “After careful consideration and a meeting with Barzani, the Kurdistan Democratic Party has decided to nominate Rebar Ahmed for the presidency as we see him fit for the post.”
Ahmed stands as one of 25 candidates approved by the Iraqi Parliament running for the role, including incumbent President Barham Salih.
The decision to nominate Ahmed follows the disqualification of the party’s first nominee Hoshyar Zebari.
Zebari, who was Iraq’s finance minister but was removed from office after a vote of no confidence, has been accused of corruption and misuse of public funds.
Complaints were made against Zebari’s nomination on the grounds of the outstanding corruption charges against him.
