The President of Iraq is Iraq's head of state and chief of government. Iraq became a republic after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958.
Presidents of the Republic of Iraq
For most of the country's history, Iraq's presidents have been authoritarian dictators occupying an office without a clearly designed constitutional structure. Such presidents exercised all power single-handedly, operating only with the consultation of a small cabinet.
- Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i1 (July 14, 1958 – February 8, 1963)
- Abd as-Salam Arif (February 8, 1963 – April 13, 1966)
- Abd ar-Rahman al-Bazzaz (acting; April 13, 1966 – April 16, 1966)
- Abd ar-Rahman Arif (April 16, 1966 – July 17, 1968)
- Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (July 17, 1968 – July 16, 1979)
- Saddam Hussein (July 16, 1979 – April 9, 2003)
1 Head of state as Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, but not technically president.
Following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003 an interim council ran Iraq under an American-led occupation authority. The council decided to have a 9-member collective presidency, in which formal chairmanship of the group would rotate on a monthly basis.
State Presidents of Iraq
In 2004 the council approved an interim constitution, called the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period. Following the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi people on June 28, 2004, Iraq's new Head of State is a "President of State", chosen by the elected National Assembly and run the three-person executive Presidency Council. The State President's powers are limited, with most executive authority belonging to the Prime Minister of Iraq.
In May 2004, outgoing council president Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer was chosen by the council to serve as the first interim Iraqi State President under the Iraqi Interim Government until parliamentary elections could be held.
On April 6, 2005 Jalal Talabani, the head of the PUK, became the first State President to be properly chosen by the newly-elected National Assembly.
See also