Exclusive: Iraqi Parliamentary bloc excludes final decision on new House Speaker in Saturday session

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Fahd Al-Rashid of al-Mubadarah (Initiative) Parliamentary Bloc deemed the Coordination Framework (CF)'s call to hold a session to elect a new Iraqi House Speaker, replacing Mohammed al-Halbousi, a positive step for the CF, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, and other political blocs.

The CF is an alliance of Shiite political groups and factions in Iraq, formed after the 2021 elections to counterbalance the Sadrist Movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr.

On Monday, the CF, in a meeting attended by Al-Sudani, urged House of Representatives members to convene next Saturday to finalize the council presidency and end the prolonged vacancy of this crucial position.

Al-Rashid told Shafaq News Agency, “The Sunni blocs support the election of a new Speaker regardless of the proposed name,” confirming, “No agreement has been reached yet among the Sunni blocs or between Sunni and Shiite blocs on a specific candidate for the position.”

“There is currently no consensus on any of the three candidates—Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, Salem Al-Issawi, or Talal Al-Zobaie—for the Speakership, and there has also been no agreement on amending the internal regulations or reopening the nomination process,” he clarified.

Regarding the upcoming session on Saturday, the bloc member anticipated that the election of the Speaker would not be finalized then, stating, “Next week will bring efforts toward a resolution, either by selecting one of the candidates or reopening the nomination process.”

Iraq's Struggle to Elect a New Speaker

The political forces have been unable to elect a new Speaker since the termination of Mohammed Al-Halbousi's membership in November 2023 due to disputes.

The Council of Representatives held several sessions to elect a new Speaker, but all have failed to resolve the crisis, as the "Taqaddum" parliamentary bloc, led by former Speaker Al-Halbousi, insists on the position as its entitlement, while the "Sovereignty" bloc, led by Khamis Al-Khanjar, and other Sunni blocs believe the position is a right of the Sunni component and not of a party or bloc.

The CF suggested a specific period for the Sunni blocs to elect a new Speaker, but this did not resolve the Sunni disputes.

On August 14, the Al-Azm coalition, led by Muthanna al-Samarrai, and the Assiyada coalition, led by Khamis al-Khanjar, announced their support for al-Mashhadani's candidacy for Speaker of Parliament.

In a joint statement, the coalitions said their decision was in response to efforts by the Shiite Coordination Framework and the Kurdistan Democratic Party to resolve the issue of electing a Speaker in adherence to the Federal Court's ruling and to avoid constitutional violations.

This development comes after six Sunni parliamentary forces announced on August 13 that they would nominate a new candidate, replacing the ousted Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, asserting that they hold a parliamentary majority.

The six parties—Taqaddum, National Masses (Al-Jamaheer Al-Wataniyah), National Determination (Al-Hasm Al-Watani), Al-Sadara, Iraqi National Project, and Al-Mubadara—issued a joint statement, indicating that they had reached an agreement on a candidate for Speaker of Parliament.

According to information obtained by Shafaq News, the candidate agreed upon by the six forces is Ziyad al-Janabi, a close associate of al-Halbousi.