The Iraqi parliament on Saturday elected Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) candidate Nizar Amidi as the country's new president, succeeding former President Abdul Latif Rashid.
Amedi's victory came after he received a majority of votes in the second round of voting in the country, after it was indecisive in the first round, which requires a two-thirds majority, according to the Anadolu correspondent.
Amedi won the race in the second round with 227 votes, compared to 15 votes for his rival Muthanna Amin, with 7 invalid papers registered, followed by the official announcement of his victory and his invitation to take the oath of office under the dome of the parliament.
The election session was held after the Iraqi parliament decided to postpone it in early February for the second time, following disagreements between the two main Kurdish parties, the Democratic Party and the National Union, over the acquisition of the position.
According to a quota system between political forces, the position of president of the republic is part of the Kurdish component's share, and the two Kurdish parties usually compete for it.
Article 72, paragraph (b) of the Iraqi Constitution stipulates that "the President of the Republic shall continue to exercise his duties until after the conclusion of the elections and meeting of the new House of Representatives, provided that a new President of the Republic shall be elected within thirty days from the date of the first session of the Council."
The Iraqi parliament held its first session on December 29, 2025, while paragraph (a) of article 76 stipulates that "the president of the republic, the candidate of the parliamentary bloc, shall be tasked with forming the cabinet within fifteen days from the date of the election of the president."
Who is the new president?
Nizar Amidi is a Kurdish politician who has made his name in the Iraqi state institutions during the last two decades, after a long path that he started from education before moving to party and administrative work, he was born in 1968 in the district of Al-Amadiyah in Dohuk province, graduated in engineering from the University of Mosul, then worked as a physics teacher before joining the ranks of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
He worked as an assistant and then as a personal secretary to former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, before managing the office of the president of the republic for years with more than one president, which made him one of the most knowledgeable figures on the details of the constitutional and institutional work in the country.
In 2022, he entered the government as Minister of Environment, and participated in representing Iraq in climate and environmental governance files, before later leaving the position, and he is referred to in media reports as a quiet figure, working away from the limelight, and possessing an extensive network of relationships and the ability to manage understandings between Baghdad and Erbil.