Iraq has had three vice presidents or deputy presidents serving concurrently.
Image: Ahmad Hassan el Bakr
Image: Hardan al Tikriti
Image: Ibrahim al Jaafari 2014
Image: Rowsch Shaways
The president of the Republic of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq and "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution". The president is elected by the Council of Representatives by a two-thirds majority, and is limited to two four-year terms. The president is responsible for ratifying treaties and laws passed by the Council of Representatives, issues pardons on the recommendation of the prime minister, and performs the "duty of the Higher Command of the armed forces for ceremonial and honorary purposes". Since the mid-2000s, the presidency is primarily a symbolic office, as the position does not possess significant power within the country according to the October 2005-adopted constitution. By convention, though not by any official legal requirement, the office is expected to be held by a Kurd.
President of Iraq