Iraq Government

Iraqi President:
The parliament that emerged from elections in
December 2005 re-elected Kurdish leader Jalal
Talabani to a second term in the
largely-ceremonial post in April 2006.
He heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK),
one of the two main Kurdish parties in northern
Iraq. The first non-Arab to head an Arab state, he
has promised to work with all ethnic and religious
factions to rebuild Iraq.
Prime minister: Jawad al-Maliki
Within minutes of being re-elected, President
Talabani asked Shia politican Jawad al-Maliki to
form Iraq's first full-term government since the
overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Mr Maliki was the compromise candidate of the
Shia-led United Iraqi Alliance, the winners of
parliamentary polls in December 2005. Kurdish
and Sunni parties opposed the alliance's first
nominee, interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari,
who withdrew his candidature after four months
of political deadlock.
Iraq is a constitutional democracy with a federal system of government. The 2005
Iraqi Constitution guarantees all Iraqis basic rights in many areas. The executive