Nizar Amedi elected President of Iraq

Exam-focused facts from the 17 April 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

Iraq's parliament elected Nizar Amedi as the country's new president.
Amedi was nominated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
He secured 227 votes in a second round of voting, while independent candidate Muthanna Amin Nader received 15 votes.
Amedi becomes the sixth Iraqi head of state since the removal of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
He is 58 years old and previously served as a senior aide to two former presidents and as environment minister from 2022 to 2024.
Under the constitution, Amedi has 15 days to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a cabinet, which must be assembled within 30 days.