Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani departed office on Wednesday, leaving his nephew to reconcile with the central government in Baghdad, with regional neighbours and with rival parties after a failed referendum.
Nechirvan Barzani, who has served alongside his uncle as prime minister, will now be the main authority figure in the executive of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), following Barzani's departure as president.
"The prime minister will be the key person during this transitional period," said Hoshyar Zebari, a former Iraqi foreign minister, now advisor to the KRG and senior member of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Barzani announced his resignation on Sunday, effective on Nov. 1, after a Sept. 25 illegal referendum backfired, prompting the central government to send troops to recapture disputed territory.
His nephew Nechirvan, 51, who has served as prime minister for all but three years since 2006, is seen as a less polarising figure, having warmer relations than his uncle with rival parties.
The Kurdish regional parliament voted on Sunday to divide the president's powers among parliament, the judiciary and the cabinet, until parliamentary and presidential elections are next held. The elections were originally scheduled for Nov. 1 but postponed last month until next year.
On Monday, the United States commended Masoud Barzani for stepping down and said it would actively engage with Nechirvan Barzani and his deputy, Qubad Talabani, a member of the rival political faction with whom he maintains a good relationship.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also spoke with Nechirvan Barzani on Monday to encourage dialogue with Baghdad. He also met with met with the French and German ambassadors to Iraq, Bruno Aubert and Cyrill Nunn, on Tuesday.
As prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani has been central to brokering the semi-autonomous region's oil dealings, now in jeopardy following Iraq's recapture of disputed territories on Oct. 16, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
Despite no longer being president, Masoud Barzani will not be retreating from public life, government officials said.
Barzani will remain head of the ruling party and will still sit on the High Political Council, a non-governmental body which emerged after the referendum.
Kurdish politics have been dominated for decades by the KDP, led by three generations of the Barzani family, and its main rivals the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), led by the family of Jalal Talabani, who died in October.
The two parties fought a civil war against each other in the 1990s, but maintained an outward appearance of unity after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, with Jalal Talabani serving as Iraq's ceremonial president in Baghdad from 2005-2014 while Masoud Barzani ran the Kurdish autonomous region.
