President of Iraq

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

1 Presidents of the Republic of Iraq (1958-2003)
2 Coalition Provisional Authority and Iraq Interim Governing Council (2003-2004)
- 2.1 Directors of Coalition Provisional Authority
- 2.2 Presidents of Interim Governing Council
3 Presidents of the State of Iraq (2004-Present)
4 See also
5 References

[edit] 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.

Name	Born-Died	Took Office	Left Office	Political Party
Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i	1904-1983	14 July 1958	8 February 1963 (deposed)	Military
Abdul Salam Arif	1921-1966	8 February 1963	13 April 1966 (died in office)	Military/Arab Socialist Union
Abd ar-Rahman al-Bazzaz (acting)	1913-1973	13 April 1966	16 April 1966	Military
Abdul Rahman Arif	1916-2007	16 April 1966	17 July 1968 (deposed)	Military/Arab Socialist Union
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr	1914-1982	17 July 1968	16 July 1979 (resigned)	Military/Baath Party
Saddam Hussein	1937-2006	16 July 1979	9 April 2003 (deposed)	Baath Party

[edit] Coalition Provisional Authority and Iraq Interim Governing Council (2003-2004)

[edit] Directors of Coalition Provisional Authority

The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was a caretaker government that held executive, legislative, and judicial power over Iraqi affairs from 2003 to 2004. It grew out of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), which was established by the U.S. government prior to its March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Jay Montgomery Garner (as Director of ORHA) (9 April 2003 - 6 May 2003)
L. Paul Bremer III (6 May 2003 - 28 June 2004 at 10:26 AM (GMT+3), Baghdad Time)
Jeremy Greenstock (the British equivalent)

[edit] Presidents of Interim Governing Council

Following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein during the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, an interim council ran Iraq under the American-led Coalition Provisional Authority. The council decided to have a 9-member collective presidency, in which formal chairmanship of the group would rotate on a monthly basis.

Name	Born-Died	Term in Office	Ethnic Group
Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum (1st time, acting)	1923-	13 July - 31 July 2003	Shiite Arab
Ibrahim al-Jaafari	1947-	August 2003	Shiite Arab
Ahmed Chalabi	1944-	September 2003	Shiite Arab
Iyad Allawi	1945-	October 2003	Shiite Arab
Jalal Talabani	1933-	November 2003	Kurdish
Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim	1950-	December 2003	Shiite Arab
Adnan Pachachi	1923-	January 2004	Sunni Arab
Mohsen Abdel Hamid	1937-	February 2004	Sunni Arab
Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum (2nd time)	1923-	March 2004	Shiite Arab
Massoud Barzani	1946-	April 2004	Kurdish
Ezzedine Salim	1943-2004	1 May - 17 May 2004	Shiite Arab
Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer	1958-	17 May - 28 June 2004	Sunni Arab

[edit] Presidents of the State of Iraq (2004-Present)

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.

According to the Constitution, the Presidency Council currently functions as the role of the President until one successive term after the Constitution is ratified^[1] and a government is seated.^[2]

Name	Born-Died	Term start	Term end	Political Party	Ethnic Group
Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer	1958-	28 June 2004	6 April 2005	The Iraqis	Sunni Arab
Jalal Talabani	1933-	6 April 2005	Present	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan	Kurdish

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. All-in-all, this is considered irrelevant simply because the Iraqi people as a whole were glad to let Saddam keep his title in exchange for their new freedom. Furthermore, no one demanded Sadaam be given his position back. Hussein was executed in 2006.