BAGHDAD — Kurdish politician Barham Saleh was named the new president of Iraq by lawmakers on Tuesday, and quickly tasked Shiite Adel Abdel Mahdi with forming a new government.
However, no matter how speedy the action was Tuesday, it could not disguise the fact that it was nearly five months since the parliamentary election.
Saleh, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, received 219 of 277 votes, beating out his opponent, Fuad Hussein of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, who got 22 votes, in the second round of the election.
Political tradition dictates that a Kurdish politician serve in the ceremonial post of president. The role of parliament speaker is traditionally performed by a Sunni Muslim, and the prime minister is a Shiite.
Under Iraq’s constitution, the prime minister-designate has 30 days to present his Cabinet to parliament.
Tuesday’s vote to choose the president was characterized by confusion, after the deputies of the Kurdistan Democratic Party announced the withdrawal of their nominee from the second round. In the first round, neither Saleh nor Hussein secured the required two-thirds of votes.
Lawmakers rejected the withdrawal of Hussein and ordered a second round with a simple majority between the two candidates.
“I pledge to safeguard the Iraqi constitution,” Barham said as he was sworn in. “I will be a president for Iraq, and not for a certain component. I will protect the unity of Iraq.”
Saleh was born in the city of Sulaimanya in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq in 1960. He joined the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in 1976.
He was detained for 43 days by Saddam Hussein’s regime on charges of involvement in the Kurdish national movement in 1979. He fled to London, where he obtained a doctorate in statistics and computer applications from the University of Liverpool in 1987.
Abdel Mahdi, the prime minister-designate, is a Shiite politician and economist.
