Iraq Elects New President and Premier, Ending Stalemate

The political deadlock in Baghdad appears to have finally been broken. “The Iraqi parliament has finally elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as the country’s new President. Hours after his election, Rashid named Muhammad Shia Al Sudani as Prime Minister-designate and tasked him with forming a government,” the Turkish public broadcaster TRT World reported yesterday. “The move is the first breakthrough in the political deadlock that’s prevented the formation of a functioning administration since elections last October.”