No candidate secures two-thirds majority in Iraq presidential vote

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s parliament moved to a second round of voting Saturday after no candidate secured the required two-thirds majority in the first round of the presidential election.

Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi announced the results, saying “Nizar Amedi received 208 votes, Muthanna Amin received 17 votes, Fuad Hussein received 16 votes, Abdullah al-Ulawi received two votes, and the number of invalid votes was nine.”

He added that “no candidate obtained two-thirds of the votes and the second round will begin for the top candidates.”

Nizar Amedi is the nominee of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, while Muthanna Amin represents the Kurdistan Islamic Union. Fuad Hussein is the candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Under constitutional rules, a candidate must receive at least 220 votes out of 329 members to win in the first round.

With no candidate reaching that threshold, the process will proceed to a second round between the leading candidates, where a simple majority will determine the winner.

The vote took place during an ongoing parliamentary session, with lawmakers participating in the first round before the results were announced.