Iraqi parliament elects Fuad Masum as new president

Fuad Masum, a veteran Kurdish politician and joint presidential nominee of Iraq's Kurdish parties, was elected Iraq's new president on Thursday following a voting at the parliament.

Earlier on Thursday, Iraqi parties in the Kurdistan Regional Government unanimously voted in favor of Masum against Barham Salih as their candidate during an extraordinary meeting of Kurdish deputies at the parliament in Baghdad, according to the website of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan - known as the PUK.

He received 175 votes out of 225 in the first round voting at the beginning of the new session of the Iraqi Parliament, but a second round was held to elect the president since none of the candidates could gain the required majority.

After withdrawal of Henan Fatlawi and Faiq al-Sheikh Ali, Masum - also backed by Shia and Sunni parties of Iraq - swept the second round polls with 211 votes to guarantee the presidential seat while sole remaining rival Hussain Mousawi got only 17 votes.

The 76-year-old politician will take over the post from outgoing president Jalal Talabani - also a Kurd and PUK Secretary General - whose tenure expired in June.

In the next phase, the newly-elected president is to appoint the prime minister within 15 days to form the new government. The prime minister also has to establish his government within 45 days.

Masum, who was born in 1938, is one of the founding members of the PUK together with his childhood friend Talabani. In 1992 following the Gulf War, he became the first prime minister of the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. He was also chosen as the first speaker of the Iraqi Parliament in 2004 after participating in the efforts of writing the new constitution of the country in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S. invasion.

According to an informal agreement dated 2003 between the country's political parties, the presidency of Iraq is given to the Kurds. The Kurdish political parties again chose the PUK to represent them. The agreement also allocates the post of parliament speaker for Sunnis and prime ministry for Shias.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Abdullah Gul phoned Masum and congratulated him for his new post.

Iraq has been gripped by lack of authority and recent sectarian violence since a coalition of armed opposition groups spearheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIL, took control of large swathes of the country's predominantly Sunni provinces early June.