Who is Nizar Amedi? Iraqi Parliament elects new President
Amedi won after securing 227 votes, while his opponent Muthanna Amin Nader received 15. According to the reports, the vote to elect the Iraqi president took over two months.
The Iraqi parliament on Saturday, April 11, elected Nizar Amedi as the country's new president. The Parliamentary election was held in November 2025. After electing their President, Iraq will now have to choose their prime minister. Amedi won after securing 227 votes, while his opponent Muthanna Amin Nader received 15. According to the reports, the vote to elect the Iraqi president took over two months.
Nizar Amedi was elected after a long decisive voting session was held in Parliament. As per the convention, Iraq's president is always Kurdish. The prime minister is elected from Shiite community, while the Parliamentary speaker is Sunni.
Amedi's election comes as Iraq is reeling from the fallout of the US-Israeli war on Iran. As the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, Iraq became caught in the middle of the conflict, with Iran-backed militias launching attacks on US bases and diplomatic facilities as well as on critical energy infrastructure.
Who is Nizar Amedi?
Nizar Amedi is a 58-year-old Kurdish politician. He is also a former is a former environment minister. Since 2024, Nizar Amedi headed the political office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Baghdad, Iraq. Amedi, who is also an engineer, was born in northern Iraq's Dohuk province.
Amedi secured the position of President over a number of candidates that included Iraq's current Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, who was the pick of the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party.
Back in January, United States President Donald Trump had threatened to withdraw Washington's support for Iraq, a major oil producer, if former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would form a cabinet.
The warning came after the Shhite political bloc alliance nominated Nouri al-Maliki as their leader, triggering alarm in the United States.
The election of Nizar Amedi has come just when the American and Iranian delegations have arrived in Islamabad for talks to end the war in West Asia, which has rattled global economies.
In Iraq, which has long trodden a tightrope between Iran and the US, its closest allies, the prime minister wields significant power.
According to the Constitution of Iraq, the President will now have 15 days to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a government and assuming the position of prime minister.
The dominant bloc, the Shiite Coordination Framework, a coalition of Iran-allied parties, announced in January that it would nominate former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, despite opposition from Washington.
(With inputs from multiple agencies)
About the Author
For about a decade, Livemint—News Desk has been a credible source for authentic and timely news, and well-researched analysis on national news, business, personal finance, corporates, politics and geopolitics. We bring the latest updates on all the listed companies on BSE and NSE, startups, mutual funds, Union ministries, geopolitics, and untapped human interest stories from around the world, helping our readers to stay informed on the latest developments around the globe. Our Coverage Areas 1. Companies: Comprehensive news and analysis on listed and unlisted companies, corporate announcements, corporate chatter, C-suite, business trends, hiring alerts, layoffs, work-life balance, world's top billionaires and richest and more. 2. Personal finance: Insights into mutual funds, small savings schemes like - PPF, SSY, post office savings scheme, stock to watch, personal loans, credit cards, top bank FDs, real estate, income tax and more. 3. Politics: Comprehensive coverage of general elections, state elections and bypolls, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, Parliament, PMO, PIB, finance ministry, home ministry, among other union ministries and government departments. 4. National News: From metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and e to untapped stories from rural India, we cover human interest, health, education, crime and courts, and law and order, among other areas of public interest. 5. Economy: In-depth analysis of India's macro and micro-economic indicators like- GDP, inflation, forex, fiscal deficit, current account deficit, interest rate cycle, economic recovery, RBI circulars, indirect taxes, GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy imports, exports and everything that impacts Indian economy. 6. Geopolitics: Well-rounded and deeply researched coverage on US News, Oval Office European Union, Ukraine Russia War, middle-east crisis, royal families and global leaders like - Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and premiers of other leading economies in the world. Meet the Team 1. Gulam Jeelani, Political Affairs Editor 2. Sugam Singhal, Senior Assistant Editor 3. Chanchal, Assistant Editor 4. Sanchari Ghosh, Chief Content Producer 5. Pratik Prashant Mukane, Chief Content Producer 6. Sayantani Biswas, Chief Content Producer 7. Ravi Hari, Deputy Chief Content Producer 8. Garvit Bhirani, Deputy Chief Content Producer 9. Akriti Anand, Senior Content Producer 10. Jocelyn Felix Fernandes, Senior Content Producer 11. Swastika Das Sharma, Content Producer 12. Mausam Jha, Content Producer 13. Riya R Alex, Trainee Content Producer
Wait for it…
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.