Iraq's parliament elected Nizar Amedi as the country's new president on Saturday, April 11, following a vote broadcast live on state television. The 58-year-old Kurdish politician, a candidate of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, secured a parliamentary majority and succeeds Abdel Latif Rachid. Under Iraq's power-sharing system, Amedi now has 15 days to designate a prime minister — a role expected to go to Nouri al-Maliki — as the country navigates regional tensions and ongoing conflict in the Middle East.