KUWAIT CITY, July 24. /ITAR-TASS/. Iraq’s parliament has elected veteran politician Fuad Masum a new president.

Masum was sworn in for Iraq’s president on Thursday.

The elections had to be held on Wednesday, July 23. However, they were postponed due to deputies’ disagreements. Kurdish parliamentarians asked for the delay because they could not decide on their nominee.

No candidate could collect one third of votes in the first round. Masum was elected Iraq’s president in the second round.

He will replace Jalal Talabani, who is at the end of his second term. Since the 2003 ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein, the position of Iraqi president goes to a Kurd.