parliament elects Nizar Amedi as country’s new president

The Iraqi parliament today elected Kurdish politician Nizar Amedi as the country’s ​new president, following parliamentary elections held in November last year. Amedi is a former environment minister and has headed the political office of the Patriotic Union of ​Kurdistan (PUK) in Baghdad since 2024.

Iraq is now ​due to choose a prime minister, a closely watched ⁠and sensitive pick.  Under the country’s sectarian power-sharing system, the prime minister is required to be a Shi’ite Muslim, the parliamentary speaker a Sunni Muslim, and the president a Kurd.