Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) Iraq's newly elected president has appointed a 76-year-old economist and veteran Shiite politician as the country's new prime minister-designate, ending months of political uncertainty following elections in May.

Shortly after Iraqi lawmakers elected Kurdish politician Barham Salih as president on Tuesday, he appointed Adil Abd al-Mahdi as the country's next prime minister.

The Iraqi president's role is largely ceremonial, with the prime minister holding most powers. The appointments end months of political wrangling, following a disputed parliamentary election earlier this year.

The new prime minister had previously served as vice president, finance minister and oil minister under outgoing prime minister Haider al-Abadi.

Al-Mahdi now has 30 days to form a cabinet and present it to parliament for approval.

Read More</s>Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Iraq's parliament elected Barham Salih as the country's eighth president Thursday by an overwhelming majority.

The Council of Representatives of Iraq voted 219-22 in favor of Salih, who was chosen as the candidate for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party, over Kurdistan Democratic Party candidate Fuad Hussein, who withdrew from the race.

"I promise to safeguard Iraq's unity and safety," Salih said at his swearing-in ceremony, adding he would become the president of Iraq as a whole not only the president of one component or party.

Salih won the PUK Party's nomination for the presidency, defeating Latif Rashid and Moahmmed Sabir in the party's internal election.

He previously served as prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan and deputy prime minister of the Iraqi federal government.

He left the PUK in September 2017 to form the Coalition for Democracy and Justice to fight corruption and the bloc won two seats in Iraq's May 12 national election.

Salih's nomination follows the Iraqi tradition of electing a Sunni Arab as speaker of parliament, a prime minister from the Shiite majority and a Kurdish president.</s>Iraq's lawmakers have elected veteran Kurdish politician Barham Salih as the country's new president, the state television reports.

Salih is a former prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraqi Kurdistan and a former deputy prime minister of the Iraqi federal government.

Widely seen as a moderate, Salih was chosen on Tuesday after a dispute between the two main Kurdish parties delayed the vote, eventually forcing them to choose among 20 nominees.

Salih routed his main rival Fuad Hussein with 219 votes to 22.

Shia lawmaker Hamid al-Moussawi said the session was delayed because the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan were unable to agree on a single candidate.

The new president will have 15 days to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a new government.

Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 US-led invasion, Iraq's presidency - a largely ceremonial role - is held by a Kurd, while the prime minister is Shia and the parliament speaker is Sunni.

Salih has named veteran Shia politician Adel Abdul Mahdi as Prime Minister-designate and tasked him with forming a new government, two lawmakers told Reuters news agency.

According to Iraq's constitution, Abdul Mahdi now has 30 days to form a government and present it to parliament for approval.

Abdul Mahdi was named by Salih less than two hours after he was elected president.

Tuesday's poll follows a weekend parliamentary election in the Kurdish autonomous region, mired in economic crisis and still in shock from the fallout of the referendum which sparked a punishing response from Baghdad.</s>The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on October 2, 2018 7:56 PM

FILE PHOTO - Barham Salih, Former Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government and Head of the Coalition for Democracy and Justice speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament elected veteran Kurdish politician Barham Salih president on Tuesday after months of political deadlock, with 219 of its 329 lawmakers voting for him.

"I promise to safeguard Iraq's unity and safety," Salih said as he was sworn in.

Iraq's presidency, traditionally occupied by a Kurd, is a largely ceremonial position but the vote is a key step towards forming a new government, which politicians have failed to do since an inconclusive national election in May.

"Today is a remarkable day for Iraq. Democracy won," said lawmaker Rebwar Taha of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party that nominated Salih.

Under Iraq's constitution, Salih has 15 days to invite the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc to form a government. The prime minister-designate would have 30 days to form a cabinet and present it to parliament for approval.

Since Saddam Hussein was toppled in a 2003 U.S.-led invasion, power has been shared among Iraq’s three largest ethnic-sectarian components.

The prime minister has traditionally been a Shi’ite Arab, the speaker of parliament a Sunni Arab and the president a Kurd.</s>Baghdad, Oct 3 (IANS) Iraqi lawmakers have elected Barham Salih as the new president of Iraq after a protracted political wrangling, marking a crucial step in forming the government in the next four years.

Salih gained 219 votes out of a total of 272 lawmakers who cast their votes on Tuesday in the second round of voting, advancing on his rival Fuad Hussein who gained 22 votes in the session, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the first round of voting, any of about 20 candidates, who were competing for the president post, had failed to win the two-third of the total 329 parliament members needed for the post. But Barham Salih gained the highest votes 165, while Fuad Hussein came in the second place with 89 votes out of about 300 lawmakers who cast their votes in the first round.

According to the Iraqi constitution, the president-elect needs to gather at least two thirds of the votes of the 329 parliament members. If the parliament lawmakers fail to vote by a two-third majority, the two candidates with the highest number of votes shall compete with each other.

The one receiving the majority of votes in the second round of vote shall be declared the president of Iraq.

After being elected as the new president, Salih sworn in as the president of Iraq and told the lawmakers, “I will protect the unity of Iraq and its independence, and it is a great honour to be elected president of the Republic of Iraq.”

“I will be the president of Iraq and not for a certain group, entity or component,” Salih pledged.

“I will work according to the democratic system,” he said, recalling “the martyrs of Iraq, victims of mass graves, Halabja and all the martyrs.”

Afterwards, the Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi adjourned the session to next Tuesday.

According to the constitution, Salih will have 15 days after taking office to task the nominee of the largest alliance to form the government of the next four years.

The Iraqi media reports said that the independent politician Adel Abdul-Mahdi will be the nominee of the largest alliance, after the contesting two alliances who previously claimed they were the largest alliance reached a consensus that they both nominated Mahdi as their candidate for the next prime minister post.

Barham Ahmed Salih, 58, is a veteran Kurdish politician, born in the city of Sulaimaniyah in northeastern Iraq. He was former prime minister of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan from 2001 to 2004.

Later, he became deputy prime minister of the federal government and occupied many ministerial posts in Baghdad and Erbil in the last 15 years.</s>Iraq's parliament elected Barham Salih as the new president of the country on Tuesday evening following a second round of voting.

Salih, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), received 219 votes from 272 parliament members winning a clear majority.

Seven candidates, including a woman, were vying for the position. They include Sardar Abdullah, Sarwa Abdul-Wahed, Abdullatif Rashid, Omar Barzanji, Barham Saleh, Fuad Hussein, and Abdulkarem Abtan al-Joubori.

Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) candidate Fuad Hussein dropped out of the race, according to a statement from his party.</s>Ending months-long political deadlock, Iraq’s parliament on Tuesday elected Kurdish politician Barham Salih as President, who nominated Adel Abdul Mahdi as the prime minister-designate.

After the 2003 US invasion, the main posts are shared among Iraq’s 3 largest ethnic-sectarian components. Under Iraq’s constitution, prime ministership is the most powerful post and has traditionally been held by a Shia, while the ceremonial position of the president is held by Kurd and speaker of parliament by a Sunni Arab.

PM-designate Mahdi is a former vice president, oil minister and has even held finance ministry and now he has 30 days to form a cabinet and present it to parliament for approval.

Mehdi is a trained economist and son of Shia cleric who was a minister in the era of Iraq’s monarchy, which was overthrown in 1958. He left Iraq in 1969 and lived in France, where he worked for think-tanks and edited magazines in French and Arabic.

After becoming Iraq’s PM, he will become the first elected prime minister in post-Saddam Iraq era who will hail from the Shia Islamist Dawa party.

Interestingly, Mehdi’s nomination has averted dispute between 2 Shia blocs that claims to hold the parliamentary majority.

 One of the rival blocs is led by Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and outgoing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and the other by Iran-backed militia leader Hadi al-Amiri and former premier Nuri al-Maliki.

If the election of Mahdi defused tension among Shia Muslims, the election of Salih has added fuel to fire in the ongoing rivalry between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which nominated Salih, and its traditional rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).</s>SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Newly elected Iraqi President Barham Salih has named veteran Shi’ite politician Adel Abdul Mahdi as prime minister-designate and tasked him with forming a new government, two lawmakers told Reuters on Tuesday.

According to Iraq’s constitution, Abdul Mahdi now has 30 days to form a cabinet and present it to parliament for approval.

Salih named Abdul Mahdi less than two hours after he himself was elected president.</s>As a veteran Kurdish politician from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) political party, Barham Salih was running against his sole challenger from the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP), Fuad Hussein, who withdrew from the second round of the vote after witnessing his 90 votes compared to Salih’s 165 in the first round.

Salih has already served as the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan and deputy prime minister of the Iraqi federal government.

According to an informal power-sharing arrangement, Iraq’s senior posts are divided along with ethnic-sectarian lines - with the prime minister being a Shia Muslim, the parliament speaker a Sunni, and the presidency, a largely ceremonial role, is held by a Kurd.</s>Veteran Kurdish politician Barham Salih assumed office on Wednesday as Iraq’s new president, ending nearly five months of political deadlock. Salih, 58, who previously served as Iraq’s planning minister and the prime minister of the self-ruled Kurdish region, was elected president by parliament and sworn in on Tuesday. He then tapped Adel Abdul-Mahdi, 76, an independent Shiite politician and former vice president, to form the next government. Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 US-led invasion, Iraq’s presidency - a largely ceremonial role - is held by a Kurd, while the prime minister is Shiite and the parliament speaker is Sunni. Both Salih and Abdul-Mahdi are longstanding members of the political class that has dominated Iraqi politics since then, AP reports.
The Council of Representatives of Iraq elects Barham Salih as president. Salih then appoints Adil Abdul al-Mahdi as prime minister.