Iraq's Speaker puts absent lawmakers on notice before presidential session
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi called on all political blocs on Friday to attend tomorrow's presidential election session, warning that the names of absent lawmakers and the blocs blocking their attendance would be made public.
بيانندعو القيادات السياسية ورؤساء الكتل النيابية والسيِّدات والسادة أعضاء مجلس النواب إلى الحضور في جلسة يوم غدٍ السبت، المخصَّصة لانتخاب رئيس الجمهورية، والمضي في استكمال الاستحقاقات الدستورية، وتغليب المصلحة الوطنية العليا، في ظلِّ ما يمرُّ به البلد من ظروف أمنية واقتصادية… pic.twitter.com/pZozhBi0Oo
— المكتب الاعلامي لرئيس مجلس النواب العراقي (@mediaofspeaker) April 10, 2026
The session -the sole agenda item of which is the presidential election- is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. The Shiite Coordination Framework has signaled it intends to proceed with the vote regardless of whether Kurdish parties reach an internal consensus on a candidate.
The session is set against a backdrop of two interlocking crises. On the Kurdish side, the KDP first fielded Fuad Hussein then Nozad Hadi, who later withdrew, while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) held firm on Nizar Amedi before signaling a possible understanding on his candidacy. On the Shiite side, the Coordination Framework nominated Nouri al-Maliki, only to see his candidacy hit open US opposition and internal divisions that split the framework between supporters, opponents, and fence-sitters, leaving both files unresolved.
Iraq passed the constitutional 30-day deadline for electing a president by more than 70 days, with 148 days elapsed since the November 2025 elections and no new government formed.
