Iran Press- Middle East: As a veteran Kurdish politician from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) political party, Barham Salih was running against his sole challenger from the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP), Fuad Hussein, who withdrew from the second round of the vote after witnessing his 90 votes compared to Salih’s 165 in the first round.
According to Washington Post, Salih has already served as the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan and deputy prime minister of the Iraqi federal government.
Salih immediately announced that he had asked former oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to form the next government.
Adel Abdul Mahdi
According to an informal power-sharing arrangement, Iraq’s senior posts are divided along with ethnic-sectarian lines - with the prime minister being a Shia Muslim, the parliament speaker a Sunni, and the presidency, a largely ceremonial role, is held by a Kurd.
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