ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s newly-elected President Nizar Amedi on Monday held his first official meetings with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and parliament speaker Haibat al-Halbousi since assuming office.

Amedi, a senior Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) member, was elected as the new President of Iraq during a contested parliamentary session on Saturday, succeeding his fellow PUK member Abdul Latif Rashid, who had held the post since 2022.

During the meeting with Sudani at the presidential palace, the prime minister congratulated Amedi “on his election as President of the Republic and wished him success in his official duties,” according to a statement from the president’s office.

The two sides also praised the role of national forces “in facilitating the election of the President,” emphasizing the importance of fulfilling constitutional requirements and “expediting the formation of a national government.”

In a separate meeting, Halbousi congratulated the president “on gaining the confidence of members of parliament and being elected President of the Republic.”

Amedi, in turn, praised the parliament’s efforts “to complete the presidential election process in a democratic manner that reflected the will of the people's representatives,” emphasizing the necessity of “fulfilling constitutional requirements, foremost among them the formation of a government that represents all Iraqis.”

The Kurdistan Region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the State of Law Coalition, and the Hoquq Movement boycotted Saturday’s decisive vote, citing continued disputes and the absence of a unified position on the presidency.

Since the November elections, which saw the KDP emerge as the top Kurdish party with 27 seats, followed by the PUK with 18, the KDP has repeatedly stressed that the presidency is not reserved for any single party and should be decided based on electoral entitlements. The two Kurdish ruling parties failed to reach a unanimous candidate for the presidency after months of negotiations following the elections.

The KDP rejected the mechanism by which Amedi was elected for the presidency, calling the decision to proceed with the vote without a consensus “a violation” of the legislature’s bylaws.

According to the Iraqi constitution, Amedi now has less than 15 days to task the prime ministerial nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with the formation of the government.

The prime minister-designate is then charged with naming the members of his cabinet within thirty days, or they will be replaced by the president if the cabinet fails to be formed in a timely manner.

State of Law Coalition leader Nouri al-Maliki was positioned as the most likely candidate for the premiership following the November elections, but his ambitions were hampered after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut off support for Iraq should he be elected to the office.

The ruling Shiite Coordination Framework has yet to formally withdraw Maliki’s candidacy or announce a new nominee, but the threats from Washington have severely crippled any attempts to move forward with the government formation process.