Shafaq News/ A source from inside the unified Sunni bloc revealed the motives of the visit of Khamis al-Khanjar, the head of al-Azm bloc, and Mohammad al-Halboosi, the head of al-Takaddom bloc, to the Gulf.
The source told Shafaq News Agency that the visit aims to inform the states that support the Sunni component in Iraq about the division of labor between the two leading Sunni blocs in the next government.
"Another motive of the visit is to persuade al-Khanjar to approve the renewal of al-Halboosi's mandate at the head of the legislature," the source said, "Takaddom is aware of how tough it is to convince Azm to renew al-Halboosi's mandate, especially after the allying with other blocs which enabled him to vie for the chair. For this reason, it had to switch tactics in order to keep the post."
"Al-Halboosi is seeking the mediation of his allies [in the Gulf] to secure a second mandate by offering al-Khanjar the position of the vice president of the republic," the source continued.
"It is expected that the talks about the nominees for the vice president will be commenced after the ratification of the election results by the Federal Court. The givens imply that those positions are split between Nouri Al-Maliki's State of Law and al-Khanjar's al-Azm," the source continued," however, this is also contingent upon the Federal Court's Verdict on the appeals filed against the election results."
"If the Court ratifies the election results and dismisses the complaints, the preliminary agreement will automatically be put in force. i. e. none of the state heads can remain in his position and the abolished positions, like the vice presidents, cannot be reinstated. If the opposite takes place, and the court decides to carry out a recount for the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the governorates that registered high rates of breaches, the Vito on renewing the mandates of the three presidents will be lifted and any of whom can compete for a second mandate."
Al-Khanjar's al-Azm, with a tally of 34 seats, joined hands with al-Halboosi's al-Takaddom bloc (the second biggest bloc in the parliament with 37 seats) and formed an alliance that will participate in the upcoming government as a single unified Sunni front.
