BAGHDAD, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi new parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi met with Kurdish top officials on Saturday to discuss formation of Iraqi government.
The meeting was held during Halbousi's visit to Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan on Saturday.
According to a statement from the media office of the ruling Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), the meeting between Halbousi and KDP's Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani reiterated principles of consensus among political blocs, partnership and respect to the constitution.
"The two sides agreed that all parties should abide by the constitutional dates in the political process," the KDP statement said.
Kurdish media net Rudaw quoted the Kurdish deputy speaker Bashir al-Haddad as saying Halbousi, with his two deputies of the parliament, "intends to visit political parties (across Iraq)."
They want to "bring together different parties and commit to the constitutional deadlines for election of the President and Prime Minister of the republic," Haddad noted.
Halbousi also separately met with Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), and the KRG's Security Chancellor Masrour Barzani, the report said.
According to the Iraqi power-sharing system, the president should be from the Kurds, the speaker from the Sunnis and the prime minister from the Shiites.
According to the Iraqi constitution, the parliament will elect the president from among the candidates by a two-third majority of its members, before the elected president will ask the largest parliament alliance to form a government within 30 days.
However, the political blocs in parliament have yet to end their tough negotiations over forming the largest alliance to establish the government for the next four years.
Both the Alliance Toward Reforms, backed by Sadr and outgoing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and the Conquest Alliance, headed by paramilitary Hashd Shaabi leader Hadi al-Ameri and Nuri al-Maliki, claim to be the largest alliance in parliament.
