Who will succeed Jalal Talabani in Iraq?


It has been just over eight months since Iraq’s 79-year-old President Jalal Talabani suffered a stroke and was transferred to Germany for treatment (GSN 939/4). Since then, the presidency has been left unoccupied, its duties carried out by vice-president Khudair Al-Khuzaei, a Dawa Party member and ally of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat in February, Khuzaei said he thought it would be “disloyal” to replace such a well-respected man. “The constitution allows the vice-president to undertake presidential powers under such circumstances,” he said. “I find myself morally and ethically bound to follow the same balanced line, and I do not believe that there is an urgent need to replace Talabani because he has offered Iraq a great deal.”