Iraqi parliament elects Abdul Latif Rashid as new president

Lawmakers in Iraq have elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as the country’s new president, paving the way for the formation of a new government and ending a year of deadlock.
He replaces fellow Iraqi Kurd Barham Saleh as head of state after the two-round vote in parliament on Thursday, winning more than 160 votes against 99 for Saleh, an assembly official said.
Rashid, 78, is a British-educated engineer and was the Iraqi minister of water resources from 2003 to 2010. He has 15 days to invite a nominee from the largest parliamentary bloc to form a government.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed joins us live from Baghdad for the latest updates.

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