BAGHDAD: Iraqi lawmakers elected Nizar Amedi as the country’s new president on Saturday, following political disputes that delayed the vote and the formation of the next government.
Amedi now has 15 days to appoint a prime minister, who is expected to be former head of government Nouri al-Maliki, despite US concerns over the choice in previous weeks.
The election came against the backdrop of the Middle East war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 that sparked Iranian retaliation against Israel and across the Gulf.
Amedi was sworn in to succeed Abdul Latif Rashid after winning a majority of lawmaker votes, according to a live broadcast on the official Al-Iraqiya channel.
The 58-year-old former environment minister is a longstanding official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the autonomous Kurdish region’s two historic parties.
By convention, a Shiite holds the powerful post of prime minister, the parliament speaker is a Sunni and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd.
After Iraq’s November general election, the presidential election had been set for January but was postponed twice over political disagreements.
In January, President Donald Trump intervened in Iraq’s affairs by issuing an ultimatum that if Maliki -- a two-time former premier with close ties to Iran -- was named Iraq’s next prime minister, the US would no longer help the country.
