BAGHDAD (AP) - The Latest on Iraq’s election of a new president, a step toward forming a new government following May elections (all times local):
11:15 p.m.
Iraq’s new president has tasked veteran Shiite politician Adel Abdul-Mahdi with forming a new government nearly five months after national elections were held.
Abdul-Mahdi, who was tapped to be the next prime minister late Tuesday, is an independent who previously served as vice president, oil minister and finance minister. He is not allied with either of the two Shiite-led blocs that each claim to have the most support after May’s elections, in which no party won an outright majority.
He was tasked with forming a new government by Barham Salih, a Kurdish politician who was elected to the largely ceremonial role of president in a parliament vote earlier Tuesday.
Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 U.S.-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.
The prime minister-designate will have 30 days to submit his cabinet to parliament.
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9:30 p.m.
Iraqi state TV says parliament has elected a veteran Kurdish politician as the country’s new president, a step toward forming a new government.
It says Barham Salih, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, won 220 votes out of the 273 lawmakers who attended Tuesday’s session. He was among 20 candidates for the post, including one from the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party. The two parties have dominated Kurdish politics for decades.
Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 U.S.-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.
Iraq held elections in May. The new president will have 15 days to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a new government. The prime minister-designate will have 30 days to submit his cabinet to parliament.
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5:45 p.m.
A meeting of Iraq’s parliament to choose a new president has been delayed due to a dispute between the two main Kurdish parties.
Under an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 U.S.-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.
Shiite lawmaker Hamid al-Moussawi said Tuesday that lawmakers were supposed to meet in the early afternoon. He says the session was delayed because the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan are unable to agree on a single candidate.
Iraq held elections in May. The new president will have 15 days to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a new government.
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