UN says Middle East needs new generation of leaders like Nechirvan Barzani
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, has congratulated Nechirvan Barzani on becoming the new President of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
“Congratulations to my good friend Prime Minister Barzani on being elected KRG President,” Mladenov tweeted. “He has always been a staunch voice of reason, moderation and progress for the Kurdish people and Iraq.”
In a dedicated parliamentary session on Tuesday, 68 lawmakers from the Kurdistan Region’s 111-seat legislature voted in favor of Barzani.
“The Middle East needs a new generation of leaders like Nechervan Barzani,” Mladenov further added.
Born in 1966, Barzani was elected as the deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region in 1996. He was elected as Prime Minister in 1999 and 2006.
He continued serving after subsequently being re-elected to the post in 2011 and 2013, until May 28, 2019.