ERBIL, Iraq — While Massoud Barzani continues his tasks as president of Iraqi Kurdistan, controversy rages over the fate of his office. The speaker of the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament, Yousif Mohammed Sadiq, says Barzani has lost legitimacy.

"We have been in a legal vacuum in the Kurdistan Region since Aug. 19 with regard to the issue of the presidency," Sadiq told Al-Monitor from his office in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region. Sadiq has been one of the key characters leading the opposition against the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) efforts to keep Barzani in office.

Barzani and his KDP have based their continued legitimacy on a decision by a government body known as the Kurdistan Consultative Council, which decided Aug. 17 that the incumbent Barzani may stay in his office for two more years. The council deliberated at the request of Barzani's office and Sadiq's deputy, who is a senior official at the KDP.

Sadiq objects, referring to the council's regulations and the parliament’s internal rules, which hold that requesting such a decision must be approved by the speaker.