Shafaq News/ Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani ascribed Latif Rashid's election as a new president of Iraq as a "success for the rejection of forcing a president against the will of Kurdistan's people."

"Since the announcement of the October 10 election results, there have been many attempts to overrule the will and rights of the Kurdistani people, and a force in someone apart from the Kurdistanis' consensus and will," the Kurdish leader said in a statement on Thursday, "these attempts faltered. Ignoring this inherent resolve was not allowed because the principle is the most crucial thing for us. The principle is more important from positions and ranks."

Barzani hoped that "the next steps in the political process serve the interests of the federal state of Iraq and the Kurdistan region" and "a new political climate, that puts an end to the hurdles and past crises, prevails."

The President of the Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, extended congratulations to Abdullatif Rashid who has been elected a new president of Iraq in a two-round vote earlier today, Thursday.

"I congratulate Dr. Latif Rashid for his election as a president of the republic and wish him luck," President Barzani tweeted.

The president urged the Iraqi political forces to exhibit cooperation and form a government that meets the people's demands.

For his part, Kurdistan's Prime Minister Masrour Barzani called Abdullatif Rashid to congratulate him on his election.

Prime Minister Barzani, in an official statement, attached "huge importance" to the role of the president-elect in "safeguarding the constitutional rights of all the Iraqis, the Kurds included."

"We all have endured many tensions and turmoils. We should dedicate a true will to open a new page. The demands of the people can no longer be a secondary issue," he added.

Lawmakers in Iraq have elected Kurdish politician Abdul Latif Rashid as the country’s new president, paving the way for the formation of a new government and ending a year of deadlock.

He replaces fellow Iraqi Kurd Barham Salih as head of state after the two-round vote in parliament on Thursday, winning more than 160 votes against 99 for Saleh, an assembly official said.

Rashid, 78, is a British-educated engineer and was the Iraqi minister of water resources from 2003 to 2010. He has 15 days to invite a nominee from the largest parliamentary bloc to form a government.

At least 269 of the 329 lawmakers attended the voting session on Thursday afternoon, which came hours after nine rockets struck areas near Baghdad’s Green Zone, where the parliament is located.

A first round of voting on the presidential nomination failed to reach the required two-thirds majority.

Iraq had already made three failed attempts this year to elect a new head of state from February 7 to March 30.

The country has witnessed months of political deadlock after powerful Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr last year emerged as the biggest winner in a parliamentary vote, but failed to rally enough support to form a government.

Al-Sadr has withdrawn his parliamentarians from the assembly and in August announced he would quit politics, prompting the worst violence in Baghdad for years.

While the presidency is a largely ceremonial position, the vote is a key step in Iraq's political process because the president invites the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc to form a government.

Under a power-sharing system designed to avoid sectarian conflict, Iraq’s president is Kurdish, its prime minister is Shia and its parliament speaker is Sunni.