Abdul Latif Rashid elected as new president of Iraq

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On 13 October 2022, lawmakers in Iraq elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as the country's new president. He will replace Barham Saleh.

Important facts

• After two rounds of voting, 160 votes were cast in favor of Rashid, while Saleh got 99 votes.

• Rashid, 78, is an engineer and was Iraqi Water Resources Minister from 2003 to 2010.

• He has 15 days to invite a nominee from the largest parliamentary bloc to form the government.

• The country had seen months of political stalemate after powerful Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr emerged as the biggest winner in a parliamentary vote last year but failed to garner enough support to form a government.

• Al-Sadr withdrew his lawmakers from the House and announced in August that he would quit politics, which was followed by violence in Baghdad.