Lawmakers in Iraq have elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as the country’s new president, paving the way for the formation of a new government and ending a year of deadlock.
He replaces fellow Iraqi Kurd Barham Saleh as head of state after the two-round vote in parliament on Thursday, winning more than 160 votes against 99 for Saleh, an assembly official said.
Rashid, 78, is a British-educated engineer and was the Iraqi minister of water resources from 2003 to 2010. He has 15 days to invite a nominee from the largest parliamentary bloc to form a government.
Source: Al Jazeera
