Region | Iraq
Talabani to stand down
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says he will not seek re-election to the post after Thursday's parliamentary election.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:31 May 3, 2009
Baghdad: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will not seek re-election after Thursday's parliamentary election because the new constitution has curbed his powers, his office said on Tuesday.
"This position does not tempt me," Talabani told state broadcaster Al Iraqiya on Monday in comments later issued by his office.
"I would not nominate myself given the powers the president now has under the new constitution. He has no power to participate in the running of the state.
"I wouldn't want to be a president of protocol."
Talabani, leader of one of Iraq's two main Kurdish parties, became president after the January 30 election for an interim assembly. Since then, Iraq has drafted and approved a new constitution which he says waters down his role.
Talabani's decision not to seek re-election suggests he might seek a more powerful post in the new government.
His Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two parties in the Kurdish bloc The party is expected to be a major player in the new assembly formed after Thursday's vote to elect its first full-term parliament since the 2003 US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussain.
The first task of the 275 MPs will be to appoint, by a two-thirds majority, a president and two vice-presidents.
The presidency council will then have 15 days to name a prime minister, who will form a cabinet to be put to parliament for approval.
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