Nizar Amedi elected Iraq’s president after two rounds of voting

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s parliament elected Nizar Amedi as president on Saturday in a second round of voting, ending months of political deadlock following the 2025 parliamentary elections, with the Kurdistan Democratic Party boycotting the session.

Amedi received 227 votes in the runoff against Muthanna Amin of the Kurdistan Islamic Union, who received 15, with seven invalid ballots. A total of 249 lawmakers participated in the second round. No candidate had secured the required two-thirds majority of 220 votes in the first round, where Amedi received 208 votes, Muthanna Amin 17, and outgoing Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein — the KDP’s candidate — 16.

The KDP’s absence was the defining political fact of the session. The party had backed Fuad Hussein for the presidency and had disputed what it described as the Coordination Framework’s push to hold the vote without resolving the prime ministerial deadlock in parallel. Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani warned Friday that proceeding without parallel progress on the prime minister was unacceptable. The KDP ultimately declined to attend.

Prime Minister Sudani congratulated Amedi and said the election “strengthens the ongoing democratic process,” calling formation of a new government the next priority. Under Article 76 of the constitution, Amedi must task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a government within 15 days.

Amedi, born in 1968 in Duhok’s Amedi district, holds a degree in mechanical engineering and served as Iraq’s environment minister from 2022 to 2024. He has been an adviser to the president for 17 years and is a member of the PUK’s political bureau. Under the post-2003 power-sharing system, the presidency is reserved for a Kurdish candidate, with the post having been held by the PUK since 2005.

This article has been updated