By Yerevan Saeed

Washington DC—The United States considers Masoud Barzani the legitimate President of the Kurdistan Region while discussions continue among Kurdish parties to resolve the issue of the region’s presidency, State Department said Tuesday, answering Rudaw's Namo Abdulla.

“While these discussions are ongoing, he [Barzani] is still fulfilling that role and so we – he is considered to be the president while this is ongoing,” said State Department Spokesperson John Kirby in a daily briefing. “But ultimately, these are decisions that Kurdish politicians have to work through,” he added.

Kurdish parties have been in talks since August when Barzani’s term ended as president.

A number of parties advocate for a parliamentary system whereby MPs would choose the president while Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and its allies favor the election of the president through the ballot box.

Kirby said that US officials were invited to the early rounds of negotiations among the Kurdish parties, adding that it is an internal issue to be decided domestically.

“These are internal political decisions that need to be worked out,” he said. “We were certainly invited to some of the early discussions. But ultimately, these are decisions that local politicians have to make, and we respect that.”

Rudaw