The Iraqi Council of Representatives voted today, Thursday, to elect Abdul Latif Rashid as President of the Republic in the second round of voting concluded by the members of the Iraqi Parliament today.

According to the Russia Today news website, 162 deputies voted in favor of electing Rashid as President of the Republic, while 99 deputies voted for Barham Salih, with 8 invalid votes.

In the second round, 269 members of the Iraqi Parliament voted to elect the new President of the Republic, while the New Generation parliamentary bloc boycotted the second round of voting by Iraqi deputies on the presidential candidates.

The Iraqi Council of Representatives decided to hold a second round of voting by the deputies present in today's session on the presidential candidates.

The Iraqi News Agency confirmed that the Iraqi Council of Representatives has completed the counting and tallying process to elect the President of the Republic, and the results of the first round of the election were as follows: Candidate Abdul Latif Rashid (157 votes), Candidate Barham Salih (99 votes).

The Council of Representatives completed, earlier today Thursday, the secret voting process to elect the President of the Republic.

Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mohammed Al-Halbousi opened today, Thursday, the works of session number 6, dedicated to electing the President of the Republic.

The media department of the Council of Representatives announced, following the session, the submission of a request to withdraw the nominations of Rebar Ahmed and Omar Al-Barzanji for the position of President of the Republic to the Council Presidency.

Since the early parliamentary elections in October 2021, Iraq has been suffering from a severe political crisis, as consultations among political parties to nominate a Prime Minister have not yielded results.

In August, Iraq witnessed bloody clashes that resulted in more than 30 deaths and a large number of injuries.