Iraq elects president in step to form government
Iraq’s parliament elected a veteran Kurdish politician as the country’s new president yesterday, a step toward forming a new government nearly five months after national elections.
State TV said Barham Salih, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, won 220 votes out of the 273 lawmakers who attended yesterday’s session. He was among 20 candidates for the post, including one from the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party. The two parties have dominated Kurdish politics for decades.
Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 US-led invasion, Iraq’s presidency — a largely ceremonial role — is held by a Kurd, while the prime minister is Shiite and the parliament speaker is Sunni.
15-day deadline
Iraq held elections in May 12. The new president will have 15 days to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a new government. The prime minister-designate will then have 30 days to submit his cabinet to parliament.
Shiite lawmaker Hamid Al Moussawi said the lawmakers were supposed to vote on Monday, but delayed the session for nearly 24 hours after the KDP and the PUK were unable to agree on a candidate. The parliament speaker eventually decided to hold a vote among all 20 nominees.
Born in 1960 in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah, Salih joined the PUK in 1976 and later worked in its foreign relations department in London. He studied at Cardiff University and the University of Liverpool.