Baghdad: Iraq’s Parliament has elected Nizar Amedi as the country’s new president.

The decision came after a decisive voting session in Baghdad, where Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi confirmed Amedi’s win following a 227-vote majority in the runoff round. After the announcement, the president-elect took the constitutional oath, Xinhua news agency reported.

Who is Nizar Amedi?

Amedi is a senior Kurdish politician and the head of the Political Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Baghdad. Before becoming president, he served as Iraq’s environment minister from 2022 to 2024 and has also worked as an adviser to former Iraqi presidents.

His political experience within both government and party structures helped strengthen his position during a highly competitive election process.

The election saw participation from around 250 lawmakers in Iraq’s 329-seat parliament, crossing the required quorum of 220 members.

In the first round, Amedi led with 208 votes, ahead of Muthanna Amin (17 votes) and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (16 votes). However, since no candidate secured the required two-thirds majority, the vote moved to a second round.

In the runoff between Amedi and Amin, Amedi secured a clear victory with 227 votes, officially becoming Iraq’s new president.

Under Iraq’s constitution, the new president has 15 days to nominate a prime minister, who will then have 30 days to form a cabinet and win parliamentary confidence.

Why the election was delayed

The presidential vote had been stalled for months due to disagreements between major Kurdish parties and repeated failures to meet quorum requirements.

With IANS inputs