Barham Salih the only alternative to Talabani

5-14-13 Shafaq News / An informed Kurdish source said that arrangements are underway to resolve choosing an alternative candidate for President , Jalal Talabani ,while pointing out that the Deputy Secretary General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Barham Salih is the only candidate for the position.

“Even if President Talabani returned to Kurdistan in good health, he will not be able to return to his post as president of the country,” The source said in a statement for “Al-Sharq al-Awsat “newspaper briefed by “Shafaq News”.

“Things have become ready today to fill his position, which is by the way of the Kurdish component share specifically for Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by President Jalal Talabani”.

“Barham Salih is the most prominent candidate to fill the position, but now he is the only candidate”.

On the Iranian position from nominating, Barham Salih to the post of president of the republic, the source said that “Saleh is currently in Iran, after the visit of President Talabani’s wife Mrs. Hero Ibrahim Ahmed to Tehran, where she held talks for the first time with the top leaders of the Iranian state, led by President Ahmadinejad”.

“The Iranian leadership tried to persuade her on the need to fill this position by the PUK, first due to the strategic relationship between Iran and PUK as it is in her interest to keep the presidency in its ally hands, and secondly because of internal conflicts that need someone to manage things in order to preserve the political process and to ensure their safety,” the source added.

“Ms. Hiro Iranian was actually convinced in this point of view, especially as she has announced that she does not aspire to fill this position instead of her husband, thus didn’t oppose the nomination of Salih for the position,” he said.

The Iraqi Presidency of prosecution had asked in a statement yesterday by the Parliament Speaker to initiate legal procedures to fill Talabani’s position due to his absence for long time, through the implementation of Article 72 of the Iraqi Constitution, which identified certain period of absence from the position, and that this demand is based on the text Article I of the Public Prosecution Law No. 159 of 1979, as amended.

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