Sunni Parliamentary majority urges new Speaker election clause in next session
Shafaq News / The parliamentary majority representing the Sunni component from the alliances of Al-Azm, Al-Siyada, and Al-Hasm affirmed on Saturday their commitment to proceed with the election of the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, regardless of the procedures of the Federal Court regarding the case raised concerning the previous session for electing the speaker, calling for including the election item in the upcoming session.
The parliamentary majority for the Sunni component stated that “the alliances of Al-Azm, Al-Siyada, and Al-Azm, along with Al-Jamaheer Al-Wataniya Party and deputies from the National Accord bloc of the Sunni component, as well as independent deputies, gathered in Baghdad to discuss the constitutional entitlement related to the position of the Speaker of Parliament.”
The statement added that "the attendees reached a final agreement aimed at completing this constitutional entitlement and the necessity of completing the procedures to elect a new speaker of the council, and including it as the first item in the first session of the council."
The majority further stated that "the lawsuit filed before the Federal Court does not affect the election procedures and does not pose any obstacle to completing this important constitutional process, and that achieving political consensus is necessary for choosing a new speaker of the council."
The statement pointed out that "the parliamentary majority decided to continue its procedures to elect a new speaker from among the confirmed candidates by the presidency of the council, committed to working diligently to achieve this goal."
They invited all political partners to "join this path to preserve the political process and respect political traditions and democratic approaches, which will enhance political and social stability and contribute to fulfilling the aspirations of our Iraqi people, especially the residents of liberated governorates."
Since the Federal Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in Iraq issued a decision on November 14, 2023, ending the membership of Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, and following the formal termination of al-Halbousi's membership by the Iraqi parliament, political blocs have been unable to agree on a replacement for him.
The Iraqi parliament held an extraordinary session on January 13 to choose the new Speaker.
The first round of voting ended with the victory of the "Taqaddom" party's Shaalan al-Karim with 152 votes out of 314. MP Salem Al-Issawi followed him with 97 votes, MP Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani with 48 votes, MP Amer Abduljabbar with six votes, and MP Talal Al-Zobaie with one vote.
However, due to verbal altercations inside the council hall, the session was adjourned without completing the election process, and no other session has been held since.
On the next day, January 14, MPs Yousif Al-Kilaby and Faleh Hassan Al-Khazali filed a lawsuit with the Federal Supreme Court, seeking a provisional injunction to halt the election session until the resolution of their lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges bribery of some MPs to vote for specific candidates for the council's presidency.
The Federal Integrity Commission (CoI) announced on January 17 that it had initiated investigations into these allegations.
Furthermore, acting Parliament Speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi formed a parliamentary investigation committee on January 23 to probe the allegations of bribery and financial inducements related to the election session.
