(VOVWORLD) - Iraq’s parliament on Tuesday elected Kurdish politician Barham Salih as the country's new president, the state television reported.
 Kurdish politician Barham Salih is elected new president of Iraq (Photo: Reuters) |
It is a remarkable day for Iraq - democracy won, said Rebwar Taha of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party that nominated Salih, who won 219 votes. Since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003, power has been shared among Iraq's three largest ethnic-sectarian factions. The most powerful post, prime minister, has traditionally been held by a Shi'ite Arab, the speaker of parliament post by a Sunni Arab, and the presidency by a Kurd.