President of Iraq - Definition and Overview

The President of Iraq is Iraq's head of state and chief of government. Iraq became a republic after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958.

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.

Presidents of the Republic of Iraq

• Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i¹ (July 14, 1958 - February 8, 1963)
• Abd as-Salam Arif (February 8, 1963 - April 13, 1966)
• Abd ar-Rahman al-Bazzaz (acting; April 13, 1966 - April 16, 1966)
• Abd ar-Rahman Arif (April 16, 1966 - July 17, 1968)
• Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (July 17, 1968 - July 16, 1979)
• Saddam Hussein (July 16, 1979 - April 9, 2003)

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

Presidents of the Iraq interim governing council

• Ibrahim al-Jaafari (August 2003)
• Ahmed Chalabi (September 2003)
• Iyad Allawi (October 2003)
• Jalal Talabani (November 2003)
• Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim (December 2003)
• Adnan Pachachi (January 2004)
• Mohsen Abdel Hamid (February 2004)
• Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum (March 2004)
• Massoud Barzani (April 2004)
• Ezzedine Salim (May 1, 2004 - May 17, 2004)
• Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer (May 17, 2004 - June 28, 2004)

State Presidents of Iraq

• Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer (June 28, 2004 - )

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.

In May 2004, Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer was named by the council as the first interim Iraqi State President.

See also: List of Prime Ministers of Iraq, List of Kings of Iraq

[1] Head of state as Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, but not technically president.