Khaberni - After winning the confidence of the Federal Parliament to vote him as President of the Republic, Nizar Amidi, the Secretary-General of the late Jalal Talabani, became the sixth president of Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The Parliament voted on Saturday for Amidi after two rounds of voting, surpassing in the first round his main competitor, the Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and in the second round, the Islamic Kurdish leader Muthanna Amin.
The presidency of Iraq since 2003 has been held consecutively by several presidents, starting with Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer who held the position temporarily between 2004 and 2005 following the end of the Coalition Provisional Authority. He was followed by Jalal Talabani who became the first elected President and remained in office for two terms from 2005 to 2014, then Muhammad Fuad Masum who was elected after Talabani's term ended and held the position until 2018, followed by Barham Salih who took over the presidency from 2018 to 2022 after defeating his competitor Fuad Hussein, and reaching Abdul Latif Rashid who has been holding the position since 2022 as the fifth president of Iraq after 2003, his election coming amidst political disagreements.
Who is Amidi?
Nizar Mohammed Said Mohammed Amidi was born on February 6, 1968, in the Amadiya District of Dohuk Governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and he is married with four children.
He was educated in the city of Mosul, the center of Ninawa Governorate (north), and obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from its university. He lived and worked in Sulaymaniyah, and then Baghdad, which gave him a practical understanding of the political, institutional, and social reality in both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, as those close to him say.
Amidi has lived in Iraq and was not part of the opposition groups that left the country during the rule of the "Ba'ath Party" to European, Western, Iranian, and Arab exiles. Unlike the previous Kurdish presidents, Jalal Talabani, Fuad Masum, Barham Salih, and Abdul Latif Rashid, who acquired other nationalities, Amidi only holds Iraqi nationality, and according to information from the political office of the "Patriotic Union of Kurdistan" party he is nominated from for the presidency, he speaks only Arabic and Kurdish.
Despite his political activity in leading the "Patriotic Union of Kurdistan" party, and his direct relationship and work with the former president Jalal Talabani, and holding the position of Minister of Environment for two years, he remained out of the spotlight, and it is rare to find him making media appearances over the past two decades.
Mystery enshrouds Amidi's biography, and it is not known whether his avoidance of public appearances is due to a personal temperament or is linked to the context of party work within the "Patriotic Union" or the context of sensitive roles he held in the presidential office.
According to information obtained by "Al-Sharq Al-Awsat" from the political office of the "Patriotic Union of Kurdistan," Nizar Amidi is a political, governmental, and diplomatic figure with more than four decades of experience in public service, including working at the highest levels of the Iraqi state and advising three Presidents of the Republic of Iraq, in addition to his role as Minister of the Environment.
Secretary of Secrets
During Jalal Talabani's tenure in the Salam Palace, Amidi accompanied the late president in his role as a Senior Advisor, and those close to him say he was always viewed as Talabani's "Secretary of Secrets".
By virtue of his direct work in the Presidential Office, Amidi became experienced in managing the relationship between the Federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, understanding the constitutional and political complexities of this relationship, and practically contributing to its resolution.
He has established working relationships with the Kurdish parties and the main political forces in Baghdad, strengthened by his working relationships with the former presidents Jalal Talabani, Fuad Masum, and Barham Salih.
According to his professional biography, Amidi possesses more than 20 years of high-level governmental and political experience, including working as a Senior Advisor to the President of the Republic (at the rank of minister and deputy minister), in addition to holding the position of Minister of the Environment between 2022 and 2024.
Amidi holds membership in the Leadership Council of the "Patriotic Union of Kurdistan," as well as heading the political office of the party in Baghdad since 2024, and membership in the "State Administration Coalition" that leads the Federal Government.
