Iraqi Parliament Presidency decides to hold session to elect new Speaker

Shafaq News / The Iraqi Parliament Presidency Council announced on Thursday the decision to hold a session next Saturday to elect a new speaker instead of the ousted speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi.

The Parliament held a session on Saturday, January 13th, to choose a new speaker for the council. In the first round of voting for the candidates, Shaa’lan al-Karim, a candidate from the "Takaddom" party, won with 152 votes, followed by MP Salem al-Issawi, a candidate from the Siyada Alliance, with 97 votes. The session was adjourned after a brawl between the MPs.

Furthermore, on January 17th, the Federal Integrity Commission announced the initiation of an investigation into allegations of bribery offers made to MPs to vote for a specific candidate for the Iraqi Parliament Speaker position.

Acting Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi formed a parliamentary investigation committee on Tuesday, January 23rd, to look into the allegations of bribery and money offered for voting for a specific candidate to succeed the ousted Speaker.