The Iraqi parliament has elected Latif Rashid as president and appointed Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to form a new cabinet.
Rashid, a Kurd, was elected in a session of the Iraqi parliament held on Thursday, October 13, 2022, a year after early parliamentary elections.
In the first round, Rashid won 156 votes out of 277 present lawmakers, while Barham Salih, the current Iraqi president, won 99 votes, according to a statement issued by the presidency of the Iraqi parliament.
According to the statement, Latif Rashid won the post with 162 votes out of 242 MPs attended the second round, defeating Salih, who received the same votes.
Salih, a leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK led by Bafel Talabani, son of late Iraqi president and secretary general of PUK, was president in October 2018 on behalf of the PUK and remained in office for four years.
Rashid, although considered a member of PUK and brother-in-law of late president Talabani, was not the official candidate PUK which had nominated former President Barham Salih for a second term.
According to Article 70 of the constitution, the presidential candidate must win a third of the votes of parliament (220 MPs), otherwise in another round of voting, the two most votes will compete and each of them wins a simple majority meaning.
The president was elected by the parliament, a year after early parliamentary elections failed to put an end to persistent political deadlock.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP has officially withdrawn its candidate Rebar Ahmad, Kurdistan Regional Government KRG’s Interior Minister and decided to support Rashid.
The PUK on Wednesday insisted that its only candidate is Barham Salih, and did not announce any official support for Rashid until the end of the presidential vote on Wednesday.
However, Bafel Talabani told reporters in Baghdad that Latif Rashid was their candidate.
Profile of Latif Rashid
- born in 1944 in Sulaymaniyah
- holds a PhD in engineering
- served as Minister of Water Resources of Iraq 2003 to 2010
- senior advisor to the Iraqi president since 2010
- brother-in-law of Jalal Talabani, his wife of Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmad is the administrator of the PUK Political Bureau
Iraq's new president has appointed Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as the candidate of the largest faction in parliament, Coordinative Framework, to form the cabinet.
Al-Sudan has been nominated by the majority Shiite coalition for months, but the Sadr movement, led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, opposed his candidacy.
The Sadr movement, which had more than 70 MPs, tried to form a cabinet with the Sunnis and The Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP after October 10, 2021 General Elections, but failed to reach an agreement with the Coordinative Framework, a coalition that includes parties of Nuri al-Maliki, Hadi al-Amiri, Falih al-Fayadh, Qais al-Khazali and other Shiite factions more closely aligned with Iran.
According to Article 76 of the Iraqi constitution, the prime minister candidate must submit his cabinet within 30 days of his appointment. Otherwise, the president must appoint another candidate within 15 days.
Profile of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani
- born in 1970 in Maysan
- holds a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering
- MP for three terms
- served as minister in two cabinets of 2010 and 2018
- held several positions, including governor of Maysan
- founded the Two Euphrates Movement and won the three seats in last elections
