President of Iraq

The President of Iraq is Iraq's head of state.

Presidents of the Republic of Iraq (1958-2003)

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.

* 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.

* In April 2006, after the ratification of the new Iraqi Constitution in 2005, Jalal Talabani was elected as President of the Republic of Iraq under the new Constitution, and thus became the first President of the permanent Government established by the new constitutional order.

*During the trial of Saddam Hussein from 2004-2006, Hussein often referred to himself as "Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq", despite the fact he had been overthrown. However, some international law scholars and critics of the U.S. invasion of Iraq argued that under international law, Hussein was still legally the President of Iraq even though he no longer was in power. Under international law, a head of state can lose his position only by actions undertaken by the indigenous people of that nation; e.g. defeat in a popular election, or a military coup. Since the Iraqi people did not take action against Hussein or demand his resignation as did the Indonesian people with Suharto in 1998, it was not considered valid that he lost his status. Hussein's removal from office was a result of the US invasion, which may also be questionable under international law as to its legitimacy. Hussein was executed in December 2006.

ee also

*List of Prime Ministers of Iraq
*List of Kings of Iraq

References