Iraqi Kurdistan: KDP and PUK dominate once more but alliance is fractured

Presidential rift: The process of electing a new federal president of Iraq – by convention a role given to a Kurd – exposed deepening divisions between the two main Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Since 2005 the two parties have divided the spoils in Iraq, with the PUK holding the federal presidency while the KDP takes the presidency of the Kurdistan Region.