Born in Sulaimani in 1960, Salih has long been an active player in Kurdish politics. He joined the PUK in 1976 — a year after some of its leaders broke away from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
As an activist opposing Saddam Hussein's Baath regime, Salih was twice arrested in 1979 and sent to the notorious Special Investigation Commission in Kirkuk where he says he was tortured for 43 days.
Salih went to the United Kingdom where he was in charge of PUK's foreign mission in London. There he earned an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and construction at the University of Cardiff in 1983, and then a doctorate from the University of Liverpool in 1987.
In the late 1980s Salih worked as an engineering consultant for a European firm. He returned to Iraqi Kurdistan in 1992 where the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had been established following years of uprisings against the Baath party and a no-fly zone enforced by Western powers.
Salih became the KRG representative to the United States in 1992, working closely with US officials in Washington.
With the PUK and KDP divided as a result of a bloody civil war from 1994-1997, Salih was prime minister of a PUK-controlled government from 2001-2004.
Following reconciliation and the US-led invasion of Iraq, Salih served as deputy prime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2009. He then was selected to be the Kurdistan Region's prime minister from 2009-2012.
Salih was asked about problems facing Iraq on a panel at AUIS on August 30.
"The problem of nationalism in our part of the world has been ethnic nationalism. It has been imported into our part of the world. It's not about an Arab cannot be an Arab and not be proud of his Arab ethnicity and Arab nationhood, etc. But it is when it becomes a denial of other peoples' identities," he said.
Salih has not made any public statements since his nomination, but has been meeting with political forces in Baghdad this week.
"I'm not shy about admitting identity, about my own national identity, my cultural identity. I should have no problem also of recognizing other identities, whether it's an Arab, a Turkmen, a Yezidi, a Shiite, a Sunni, a Christian. If you are aware of your identity you must also acknowledge others' rights to express their identity," he said at the AUIS panel.
He is married to Sarbagh Salih who holds a bachelor's degree in horticulture from the University of Baghdad and a PhD from the University of Bath in Britain.
She is known to be an environmental and women's rights activist in Kurdistan and worked for 13 years for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a researcher. They have a son and a daughter.
Salih founded the American University of Iraq - Sulaimani in 2007 and was chairman until 2017.
A member of the PUK Politburo, Salih, broke away to form the Coalition for Democracy and Justice (CDJ) in 2017. His party membership was never revoked following the death of PUK leader Jalal Talabani in October 2017, but he was removed from the politburo.
The CDJ won an underwhelming two seats in Iraq's parliamentary elections on May 12. Salih alleged voter fraud in the Kurdistan Region by the KDP and PUK, particularly in Sulaimani.
Salih resigned from the CDJ on September 19 and announced his return to the PUK. In a secret ballot to choose a candidate for the Iraqi presidency, Salih secured 26 votes to beat out challengers Mohammed Sabir (15) and Latif Rashid (1).
Some Salih supporters have welcomed his return, while detractors have claimed he was being opportunistic. Remaining CDJ leaders said their two seats in Baghdad will not go to the PUK. The KDP is not supporting Salih's bid; instead, nominating Fuad Hussein.
Traditionally the post in Baghdad has gone to the PUK — Jalal Talabani twice and Fuad Masum once — according to a power-sharing agreement with the KDP that affects the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
