The inauguration ceremony of Iraq's new President Abdul Latif Rashid was held at the presidential palace in Baghdad on the 17th. On the same day, Rashid inspected the presidential palace guards accompanied by the Iraqi national anthem. In his speech at the inauguration ceremony, Rashid said that he hoped to form a strong, efficient and unified government as soon as possible to meet the people's expectations for security, stability and services. Rashid was born in 1944 in Sulaymaniyah Province, Kurdish Autonomous Region in northern Iraq. He was once the Minister of Water Resources and has been the senior adviser of the President since 2010. The Iraqi National Assembly held a meeting on the 13th to elect Rashid as the new president. Rashid was then sworn in as President and nominated Mohamed Shia Sudani, former Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, as Prime Minister designate, to form a new government. (Liu Xinshe)