- Parliament said Iraqi lawmakers have elected Abdul Latif Rashid as Iraq’s new president, an important step towards forming a new government for the country.
- Rashid received 162 votes in the second round of voting, defeating Barham Salih, who received 99 votes, while eight votes were deemed invalid.
- Newly-elected Rashid was later sworn in as Iraq’s fifth president since 2003.
Rashid was born in 1944 in the northeastern Sulaimaniyah region of Iraq. He graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Liverpool in 1968. He earned his doctorate of engineering from the University of Manchester in 1976. Rashid has a long history in Iraqi politics. He served as Minister of Water Resources from 2003 to 2010 and then as Senior Advisor to the President. He can speak Kurdish, Arabic & English.
