Mam Jalal: From a Peshmerga to the First Kurdish President of Iraq

Iraq 09:35 AM - 2025-04-06

President Mam Jalal.

Today, 6 April 2025, marks the anniversary of the election of President Jalal Talabani (Mam Jalal) as President of the Republic of Iraq, which came during the fourth session of the National Assembly headed by Dr. Hajim al-Hassani on the morning of Wednesday, 6 April 2005, at the Conference Palace in Baghdad.

In the session, the assembly elected President Jalal Talabani from the Kurdistan Alliance list for the post of President of the Republic, Adil Abdul Mahdi from the National Iraqi Alliance list, and Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar from the list of Iraqis as two vice-presidents, where the candidates received (227) votes out of a total of (257) votes.

A temporary assembly was established to rule Iraq in 2003 following the United States and its allies' successful overthrow of the Ba'ath regime. 

The assembly persisted in its operations for over two years until the establishment of the Iraqi parliament on 6 April 2005, at which point President Mam Jalal was elected as the country's president and the first Kurd to hold the office.

President Mam Jalal played a significant role in managing Iraq and introducing the Kurds to the world because electing a Kurdish President as President of Iraq was a dream of every Kurd, which drew the attention of many countries around the world. President Mam Jalal's efforts have been appreciated by many Iraqis, as he was like an umbrella for all Iraqi communities.

It was a historic day for the Kurdish people because George Bush, the U.S. president at the time, congratulated President Mam Jalal on his tremendous success. The Kurdish people, as whole, took to the streets to show their joy and happiness at the election of a Kurd to lead Iraq. Numerous Arab and European officials also congratulated President Mam Jalal.

The re-election of President Mam Jalal 

Iraq held another election in 2010 to choose representatives for the Iraqi parliament. Members of the elected parliament re-elected President Mam Jalal to be the country's president, a position he held until 2014.

What happened...

President Mam Jalal was transported overseas and hospitalised on 17 December 2012, two years after he was re-elected, due to a decline in his health. However, there were numerous allegations from the adversaries claiming he was dead. When he returned to the Kurdistan region in July 2014, all of these untrue claims were refuted, and he was greeted warmly by the populace. 

The role of President Mam Jalal

It was a challenging assignment, but Mam Jalal was able to unite all Iraqi elements under the banner of peaceful coexistence following the fall of the Baathists, and Iraqis really appreciated this endeavour. However, the issues had returned after he fell ill. 

Since Iraq is made up of Kurds, Arabs (Sunni and Shia), Turkmens, Yazidis, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Christians, and Kurds, no one has been able to bring all Iraqis together like President Mam Jalal managed to do so with his brilliance.
 
Throughout his presidency, which lasted until 2014, when Dr. Fuad Masum took over as president of Iraq, Mam Jalal was adored by all Iraqis and they always turned to him for assistance in resolving crises. However, his story was extremely challenging because differing viewpoints made everything more complicated.



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