Baghdad, Iraq ? The Iraqi parliament approved Saddam Hussein’s nomination for another seven-year presidential term, paving the way for Iraqis to go to the polls Oct. 15, state-run TV reported Sunday.

Iraqis on Oct. 15 will be asked to vote on whether they do or don’t accept Saddam’s presidential nomination. The last referendum was in 1995, and Saddam received 99.96 percent of the vote to continue as president.

Saddam was first appointed president in 1979 after replacing Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, the Iraqi general who led the Baath party to power in a 1968 coup. Saddam has since held the post of party leader, army commander and chairman of the council. Occasionally he has served as prime minister.