Iraq: Parliament elects Nizar Mohammed Saeed as president
Iraq president: Landslide 227 votes give Nizar Mohammed Saeed presidency
The Iraqi Council of Representatives voted on Saturday to elect Nizar Mohammed Saeed as president of the republic, receiving 227 votes, while his rival Muthanna Amin Nadir received 15 votes with 7 invalid ballots.
The council’s media office announced that the election took place over two rounds, with no candidate achieving a two-thirds majority in the first round, before Saeed won the required simple majority in the second.
The election session was held amid a boycott by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (26 seats) and the State of Law Coalition led by Nouri al-Maliki (29 seats). Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi had called on all political blocs to attend, warning that the names of absent lawmakers and blocs obstructing attendance would be announced to the public.
The president-elect (born in Dohuk, 1968) belongs to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. He previously served as environment minister and as office director for several former presidents.
Under Iraq’s power-sharing system in place since 2003, the presidency is allocated to Kurds, the parliament speakership to Arab Sunnis, and the prime ministership to Shia. The new president is expected to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a government within 15 days of taking the constitutional oath.
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