Nizar Amedi Elected Iraq’s New President, Ending Political Deadlock

Baghdad, April 2026 : The Iraqi Parliament on Saturday elected former environment minister Nizar Amedi as the country’s new president, marking a significant breakthrough after months of political stalemate.

Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi formally declared Amedi’s victory following a decisive runoff vote in which he secured 227 votes. Soon after the announcement, Amedi took the constitutional oath of office, officially assuming his new role as head of state.

The crucial parliamentary session saw participation from around 250 lawmakers out of the 329-member house, comfortably surpassing the constitutional quorum requirement of 220 members needed to conduct the presidential election. The strong turnout reflected a renewed political consensus after repeated failed attempts to elect a president in recent months.

In the first round of voting, Amedi—backed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)—emerged as the frontrunner with 208 votes. His main rivals, Muthanna Amin of the Kurdistan Islamic Union and current Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, secured 17 and 16 votes respectively. However, as no candidate achieved the required two-thirds majority in the initial round, the election proceeded to a runoff between Amedi and Amin.

Amedi, who currently heads the PUK’s Political Bureau in Baghdad, brings with him considerable administrative and political experience. He served as Iraq’s environment minister from 2022 to 2024 and has also worked as an adviser to former Iraqi presidents, giving him deep insight into the country’s governance and political framework.

Under Iraq’s constitution, the newly elected president is tasked with nominating a prime minister-designate within 15 days. This nominee, typically drawn from the largest parliamentary bloc, will then have 30 days to form a government and seek a vote of confidence in Parliament. The process is expected to pave the way for the formation of a new cabinet and bring greater political stability to the country.

The presidential election follows parliamentary polls held in November last year and effectively ends a prolonged period of political deadlock. The delay in electing a president had largely been due to disagreements among major Kurdish factions and repeated failures to meet the required quorum in earlier sessions.

Iraq’s political system, established after 2003, operates on a power-sharing arrangement where the presidency is traditionally held by a Kurdish leader, the parliamentary speaker is a Sunni, and the prime minister is a Shiite. Amedi’s election now restores balance to this framework and signals a potential step forward in Iraq’s efforts to stabilise its political landscape.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)