Iraqi Parliament holds session for electing new Speaker

Shafaq News / Mohsen Al-Mandlawi, the Acting Speaker of the Parliament, inaugurated the first session of the current legislative term on Saturday, dedicated to electing a new Parliament Speaker in place of the ousted Mohammad Al-Halbousi.

According to Shafaq News Agency’s correspondent, Al-Mandlawi commenced the session after achieving the legal quorum with the attendance of 260 deputies.

On Friday, MP Fahad Al-Rashed from the "Takaddom" bloc affirmed that their sole candidate for the position of Parliament Speaker is Shaa’lan Al-Karim.

Al-Rashed stated that the Saturday session is designated for electing a new Parliament Speaker to replace Mohammad Al-Halbousi, with multiple candidates vying for the role, including Salem Al-Issawi, Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, Shaa’lan Al-Karim, and others.

He clarified that the Takaddom bloc officially informed the Coordination Framework and Kurdish blocs that their exclusive candidate is MP Shaa’lan Al-Karim.

Since the removal of Al-Halbousi from the Parliament, several sessions were held to elect a new Speaker, but the matter was not discussed due to a lack of consensus among the political blocs on an alternative candidate.