Al-Halboosi shall resign if Takaddom wants ministerial representation, MP says

Shafaq News/ Mohammad al-Halboosi's Takaddom (Progress) party shall relinquish the parliament spokespersonship in exchange for the ministerial representation it seeks, member of al-Azm (Resolve) parliamentary bloc Haidar al-Mulla said on Saturday.

The bloc, engendered from an alliance led by Khamis Al-Khanjar under the same name, brings together a group of Sunni leaders, including Muthanna al-Samerrai, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, Qasem Al-Fahdawi, and Khaled al-Obaidi.

Recently, the firebrand Sunni leader Ahmed Abdullah al-Jubouri, codenamed Abu Mazen, joined the lawmakers that left al-Khanjar's bloc after the latter decided to join hands with his Sunni rivals, al-Halboosi's Takaddom, into al-Siyada (Sovereignty) bloc.

"Azm will not pursue the policy of ostracism against Takaddom. We will offer them their entitlements, from which they took the most by claiming the parliament spokespersonship," al-Mulla said.

"If Takaddom does not want the position, al-Halboosi shall leave it for someone from Azm. Azm has many figures who are competent enough to run the parliament. In exchange, Takaddom can have some ministerial portfolios," he added.

"The portfolios shall be awarded to the parties in accordance with the number of their respective seats in the parliament. Since the parliament speaker equals 30 points, Takaddom does not have enough points to get many portfolios," he concluded. "therefore, Azm will take over the majority of the ministerial portfolios of the Sunni component."