The Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government’s presidential elections will take place on August 20.

The Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government's presidential elections will take place on August 20, officials said Saturday.

Fuad Hussein, chief of staff of the KRG presidency, said in a statement that President Masoud Barzani instructed all governmental institutions to get ready for the elections.

"Barzani demands that all political parties should do their part in acting in a fair and democratic way in order to hold democratic elections," the statement said.

Relations between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government in Erbil have been worsening because of Baghdad’s failure to send Erbil’s full budget.

Iraqi parliament vice president, Aram Sheikh Mohammad, said that "if Erbil is a part of Iraq, then Baghdad should send the Kurdish budget and civil servants' salaries."

Although Iraq is a federal state, in practice, this does not seem to be practiced, especially that political issues were the reason that led the country to be a target of terrorism, according to Mohammad.

"The capital in Baghdad still has the centralized mentality like the past," Mohammad said.

"This country has three main elements: Shia, Sunnis and Kurds. However, a strong political alliance between these elements was never reached at any time throughout history," he added.