Nechirvan Idris Barzani

Position: Prime minister, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)

Biography: Nechirvan Idris Barzani was sworn in as prime minister of the KRG on 5 April 2012, along with 19 cabinet ministers, after receiving approval from parliament. Barzani takes over from Barham Saleh, who had been prime minister since 2009.

As a grandson of a prominent Kurdish leader and founder of the KDP, and nephew of the current President Masoud Barzani, the 56-year-old prime minister comes from a strong political lineage. Barzani fled Iraq in 1975 for neighbouring Iran. He was elected to lead the KDP in 1989 and again in 1999. Barzani was appointed to the KDP central committee in 1989 and re-elected in 1993 in the political bureau.

In 1996, Barzani was appointed deputy prime minister. He served as prime minister of KDP-controlled Kurdistan from 1999 to 2006 and later as prime minister of the unified KRG. In his current role, Barzani will need to streamline his office and make the budget more transparent.

Contact: (+964) 6 6223 5500