Barham Salih, a Kurd, is Iraq’s new president. For Chaldean Church, he is a moderate, a guarantee of unity
At 58, the member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is a veteran politician. For Patriarch Sako, he is committed to "true reconciliation" against tensions and controversies. He is respected leader and a source of hope, says Mgr Yaldo, who views citizenship as a fundamental basis of the country.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) – Card Louis Raphael Sako "welcomed with great pleasure" the election of Barham Salih as Iraq’s new president. The Chaldean Patriarch urges the moderate Kurdish leader "to serve all Iraqis", build "a strong civil state", and "face the many challenges" that lay ahead.
The cardinal, who sent his message to AsiaNews for wider release, hopes to see the new president engage in greater efforts to achieve "true reconciliation" both in the government and the country, with "disputes and tensions" put aside.
Salih, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), was elected yesterday, defeating his main rival, Fuad Hussein, of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), by a margin of 219 votes to 22.
After his election, Salih took the oath of office pledging to “safeguard Iraq’s unity and safety”.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, the largely ceremonial post of head of state has been reserved to a Kurdish leader. Among his duties, the president is responsible, within 15 days of his election, for the appointment of a prime minister tasked with forming a new government.
A few hours after his election, Salih named Adel Abdul Mahdi, a former Oil and Finance Minister, as prime minister designate. Experts view Mr Mahdi as a compromise candidate liked by both by the United States and Iran.
Mahdi’s name was put forward by radical Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr, whose coalition won last May’s parliamentary election but without an absolute majority.
The 58-year-old Barham Salih is considered a moderate, and served as prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
An engineer by training in Britain, he was forced into exile under Saddam Hussein. Most of his political life has been with PUK.
Electing a president was a source of tensions and divisions between the two main Kurdish parties, the PUK and Massoud Barzani’s KDP, reflecting deeper cleavages in Iraq’s Kurdish population, something that came into the open during last year’s independence referendum.
Now the new president will have to try to reconcile Kurds and the country as a whole.
For Mgr Basel Yaldo, the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad and the Patriarch Sako’s right-hand man, choosing Salih brings hope because he is “a veteran politician even though he is still young. He has held various offices and is a capable and balanced leader.”
The prelate told AsiaNews that the new president is a "moderate and guarantor of unity", which is fundamental for rebuilding the country.
Like Patriarch Sako, the new president "strongly insists on the element of citizenship, not religious faith or ethnicity, as a fundamental basis of the Iraqi nation and society".
Mgr Yaldo noted that Salih was part of the interim government set up after Saddam’s fall and served as deputy prime minister under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
For the prelate, "He will be a good president because he has great experience and is known and appreciated internationally. With him we have established good relations and he has great personal affection for us and Patriarch Sako."
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25/01/2020 14:35
