2026 Iraqi presidential election

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2026 Iraqi presidential election
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27 January 2026 (2026-01-27)
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  Fuad Hussein 2025 (cropped).jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Fuad Hussein Nizar Amedi
Party Kurdistan Democratic Party Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
President before election

Abdul Latif Rashid
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

Elected president

TBD

A presidential election is being held in Iraq to indirectly elect the ceremonial president of Iraq. 44 [1] [2] [3] to 81 [4] [5] [6] people originally registered themselves to be potential candidates before parliament closed down the nomination on 6 January. Regular Iraqi civilians have also applied to be presidential candidates as opposition against the ethno-sectarian system, with critics accusing the system of increasing inefficiency, corruption, and deepening sectarianism. [7] [8]

Contents

Prominent candidates included former minister of foreign affairs, [a] Fuad Hussein, [2] and former governor of Erbil, Nawzad Hadi [4] of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and former minister of environment, Nizar Amedi and incumbent president, Abdul Latif Rashid [b] of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). [1] [7] [4] [9] Secretary-general of the Iraqi parliament, Al-Gargari stated that finalists will be later revealed after process. [1]

Arabic sources have mentioned of 15 candidates being approved by parliament with Fuad Hussein and Nizar Amedi being qualified. [9] [10] Other candidates includes Shwan Hawiz Fariq Nam, Ahmed Abdullah Tawfiq Ahmed, Hussein Taha Hassan Mohammed Sinjari, Najm al-Din Abdul Karim Hama Karim Nasrallah, Asu Faridun Ali, Saman Ali Ismail Shali, Sabah Saleh Saeed, Abdullah Mohammed Ali Zahir, Iqbal Abdullah Amin Halawi, Nizar Mohammed Saeed Mohammed Kanji, Sardar Abdullah Mahmoud Timz, Muthanna Amin Nader, and Nawzad Hadi Mawloud. [9] [11]

The date has been delayed mainly at the request of the KDP and PUK that needed more time to establish their candidates [12] and that said candidates were not approved by Shia and Sunni parliamentary groups yet. [13] Previously, speaker Haibat al-Halbousi and KDP politician Shakhawan Abdullah had announced that the election set to be held on 27 January [14] [15] [16] 28 January, [14] [2] [9] [11] [6] a month after the 29 December parliamentary session following the 2025 parliamentary elections. [9] The Iraqi parliament has previously been unable to be faithful towards dates. [17]

Background

According to the constitution of Iraq, after the speaker is chosen, the parliament of Iraq is required to elect the president of Iraq with a two-thirds majority [18] (somewhere around 220 votes) [19] within 30 days after the first parliamentary session. If parliament is unable to proper choose a president in the first round, then the two candidates that won the most votes will be put in a second round. If one of the candiates has higher votes then the other, then they become president. [19]

After the president is chosen, they are mandated to appoint the leader of the political bloc with highest amount of seats as prime minister. The prime minister then forms a new cabinet and have the nominee be approved by parliament through a vote-of-confidence within either 15 [18] [2] or 30 days. [1] [7] [18] This election was organized after parliamentary sessions in relation to the leadership were completed between 29–30 December 2025. [1]

The role of the president is reserved for a person of Kurdish ethnicity as part of a confessional quota, along with a Sunni Muslim being the speaker of Parliament, and a Shia Muslim as prime minister. It was established after the United States invasion of Iraq. [1] [7]

An agreement between the PUK and KDP (also refereed to as the muhasasa) is that a nominee of the former party will be able to possess the role of president while the latter will govern the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. The agreement has been criticised for encouraging corruption and sectarian splits. [7] The KDP has also reportedly started to plan to run for president against the PUK's candidate. [20]

Preparations

Incumbent prime minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani's Coordination Framework endorsed former leader Nouri al-Maliki as the new prime minister in order to be appointed. US President Donald Trump has called the decision as a "a very bad choice" for nominating al-Maliki due to previous allegations of deepening sectarianism in Iraq. [12]

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Abdullah Mohammed Ali Zahir0–
Fuad Hussein Kurdistan Democratic Party 0–
Nizar Amedi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan 0–
Shwan Hawiz Fariq Nam0–
Ahmed Abdullah Tawfiq Ahmed0–
Hussein Taha Hassan Mohammed Sinjari0–
Najm al-Din Abdul Karim Hama Karim Nasrallah0–
Asu Faridun Ali0–
Saman Ali Ismail Shali0–
Sabah Saleh Saeed0–
Iqbal Abdullah Amin Halawi0–
Sardar Abdullah Mahmoud Timz0–
Muthanna Amin Nader0–
Khalid Sadiq Aziz Mohammed0–
Azad Majid Hasan0–
Rafea Abdullah Hamid Mousa0–
Salem Hawas Ali Saadi0–
Abdul Latif Rashid Independent [8] 0–
Total
Source: Kurdistan24, Nova.new, Shafaq (Candidates)

Notes

  1. ↑ Only for the caretaker government that the source referred to. [4]
  2. ↑ planning to run as an independent in the presidential election despite an insuffiency in PUK support. [6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Xinhua. "More than 40 candidates register for Iraq's presidential election". chinadailyhk. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "44 مرشحا لرئاسة العراق يتقدمهم الرئيس الحالي" [44 candidates for the Iraqi presidency, led by the current president]. الجزيرة نت (in Arabic). Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  3. ↑ Laith Aljnaidi; Lina Altawell. "44 candidates apply to run for Iraq's presidency: Parliament speaker". Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "81 candidates, including four women, vie for Iraqi presidency". Emirates News Agency . 16 January 2026.
  5. ↑ "15 مرشحاً لرئاسة العراق" [15 candidates for the Iraqi presidency]. The New Arab (in Arabic). 16 January 2026. وجاء هذا الإعلان بعدما تقدّم لغرض الترشح للمنصب 81 مرشحاً ومرشحة، وتضمنت أسماء ناشطين وصحافيين وإعلاميين، لكن جرى حذفها. ووفقاً لبيان صدر عن البرلمان، فإنه تقرر قبول ترشح 15 شخصاً للمنصب، بينما تم رفض 66 طلباً للترشح.[This announcement came after 81 candidates, including activists, journalists, and media figures, initially applied for the position, but their names were subsequently removed. According to a statement issued by Parliament, 15 candidates were approved, while 66 applications were rejected.]
  6. 1 2 3 Ali Ragab (16 January 2026). "The Iraqi parliament announces the final list of presidential candidates, with the competition narrowed down to the two main figures from Sulaymaniyah and Erbil". Voice of Emirates.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Mahmoud, Sinan. "Iraqi citizens apply to be president in challenge to post-Saddam political system". The National News. Archived from the original on 6 January 2026. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Iraqi parliament to convene to elect new president amid deep divisions". thenationalnews.com. 27 January 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "برلمان العراق يوافق على 15 مرشحاً للانتخابات الرئاسية" [Iraq's parliament approves 15 candidates for the presidential elections] (in Arabic). Nova.new.
  10. ↑ "البرلمان العراقي ينشر أسماء 15 مرشحا لمنصب رئاسة الجمهورية" [The Iraqi parliament publishes the names of 15 candidates for the presidency] (in Arabic). kuna.net.
  11. 1 2 "Iraq clears 15 candidates for presidential race". Shafaq News. 15 January 2026.
  12. 1 2 Zeynep Gül (27 January 2026). "2026 Presidential Election in Iraq and the Political Process". kureansiklopedi.com.
  13. ↑ "Iraq presidential vote delayed as Kurdish blocs struggle to pick candidate". Al Jazeera English. 27 January 2026.
  14. 1 2 "Iraqi Parliament to Hold Presidential Election Session Tuesday". Kurdistan 24. 25 January 2026.
  15. ↑ "Iraq sets date for presidential election". report.az. 25 January 2026.
  16. ↑ "Iraqi lawmakers to elect president this week, PM appointment next". Al Arabiya English. 25 January 2026.
  17. ↑ "Iraqi parliament to hold session to elect president on Tuesday". The New Region. 27 January 2026. Iraq has often failed to honor the constitutional timeframes, as disagreements between rivaling blocs hinder the process, resulting in long delays and, at times, unrest in the country.
  18. 1 2 3 "Iraq elections 2025: How votes are won and what the results could mean for Iraq's fragile stability". chathamhouse.org. 21 October 2025. Archived from the original on 21 November 2025. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  19. 1 2 "Political Scramble, Parliamentary Consultations in Iraq to Name New President". qna.org.qa. 13 January 2026.
  20. ↑ "Premiership, presidency deadlock clouds Iraq's post-election outlook". thearabweekly.com. 20 January 2026. Retrieved 22 January 2026. Traditionally, the presidency has been held by the PUK since the post-invasion period, but the KDP recently argued there is no legal or constitutional barrier preventing a president from outside the party.
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