Iraqi Parliament fails to elect new speaker
2 Min Read
The session was postponed until further notice as no candidate secured the required majority as per the Iraqi House of Representatives' internal regulations.
-
The Acting Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Mohsen al-Mandlawi (Shafaq news agency)
The Iraqi House of Representatives failed on Saturday to choose a new parliament speaker after a vacancy that lasted nearly six months following the removal of former speaker Mohammad al-Halbousi.
The second round of voting saw close competition between the Sovereignty Alliance's Salem al-Issawi who received 158 votes and the Progress Party-backed Mahmoud al-Mashhadani with 137 votes.
The session was postponed until further notice as no candidate secured the required majority as per the parliament's internal regulations.
According to the internal regulations of the House of Representatives, if a candidate fails to obtain 166 votes, a decisive third round is held, where the candidate with the highest number of votes, regardless of the total, will become parliament speaker.
In mid-November 2023, the Federal Supreme Court in Iraq issued a decision to terminate the tenure of al-Halbousi based on a "forgery" lawsuit filed by one of the members of parliament.
The decision was also concurrent with the decision to terminate the membership of MP Laith al-Dulaimi, who filed the lawsuit in the first place.
The trial began in February 2023 after a complaint filed by al-Dulaimi accused al-Halbousi of "forging" the date of a resignation request in his name.
