Iraqi parliament elects Abdul Latif Rashid as new president | Politics Information

BREAKINGBREAKING,

Election breaks months-long political impasse and got here hours after rockets struck areas close to Baghdad’s Inexperienced Zone.

Lawmakers in Iraq have elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid because the nation’s new president, paving the way in which for the formation of a brand new authorities and ending a yr of impasse.

He replaces fellow Iraqi Kurd Barham Saleh as head of state after the two-round vote in parliament on Thursday, profitable greater than 160 votes towards 99 for Saleh, an meeting official stated.

Rashid, 78, is a British-educated engineer and was the Iraqi minister of water sources from 2003-2010. He has 15 days to ask a nominee from the biggest parliamentary bloc to type a authorities.

“The query now’s whether or not or not the newly elected president would have the ability to assign a brand new prime minister to type the federal government, given the truth that that is so controversial and has been behind all of the political upheaval sweeping the nation,” Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelhwahed, reporting from Baghdad, stated.

At the very least 269 of the 329 lawmakers attended the voting session on Thursday afternoon, which got here hours after nine rockets struck areas close to Baghdad’s Inexperienced Zone, the place the parliament is situated.

Abdelwahed stated that a number of civilians and members of the safety forces have been wounded within the rocket assaults, which befell because the parliament was about to start its session.

A primary spherical of voting on the presidential nomination failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority.

Iraq had already made three failed makes an attempt this yr to elect a brand new head of state from February 7 to March 30.

The nation has witnessed months of political impasse after highly effective Shia chief Muqtada al-Sadr final yr emerged as the most important winner in a parliamentary vote, however did not rally sufficient assist to type a authorities.

Al-Sadr has withdrawn his parliamentarians from the meeting and in August introduced he would give up politics, prompting the worst violence in Baghdad for years.

Whereas the presidency is a largely ceremonial place, the vote is a key step in Iraq’s political course of as a result of the president invitations the nominee of the biggest parliamentary bloc to type a authorities.

Below a power-sharing system designed to keep away from sectarian battle, Iraq’s president is Kurdish, its prime minister is Shia and its parliament speaker is Sunni.

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