Iraqi Victory Coalition: “Sunni-Sunni dispute” over Iraq Speaker candidate continues
Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, the Victory Coalition “Al-Nasr” led by former PM Haider al-Abadi revealed the latest developments regarding the election of the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament and its expected resolution.
Akeel al-Rudaini, the spokesperson for the coalition, revealed to our Agency, "The Sunni-Sunni dispute over selecting the candidate for the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament is still ongoing," with current nominations limited to Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Salem al-Issawi.
He noted that this conflict has extended to involve other political forces, pointing out that the Coordination Framework (CF), comprising Shiite forces excluding the Sadrist movement, “is unable to support a specific candidate, thereby disrupting the established consensus and balance.”
Al-Rudaini emphasized that “Sunni political factions must either unite behind a single candidate or proceed to Parliament with the nominees (al-Mashhadani and al-Issawi) and allow MPs to vote,” pointing out that “amending parliamentary bylaws to reopen nominations is legally unfeasible, given the existing candidates and the Federal Supreme Court's decision to continue with the election process.”
In closing, the coalition spokesperson indicated that a session to elect a new Speaker of the House of Representatives could be scheduled soon. "If the Sunni political factions cannot reach a consensus on a specific candidate, the decision will be left to the MPs to vote freely," the spokesperson said.
The Speaker position has been vacant since November 14, 2023, when the Federal Supreme Court ended Mohammed al-Halbousi’s tenure due to "fraud" allegations brought by MP Laith al-Dulaimi.
The ongoing deadlock in electing a new Speaker stems from disagreements among Sunni blocs over the position.
Despite several parliamentary sessions, the crisis remains unresolved. The "Taqaddum" bloc, led by former Speaker al-Halbousi, insists on retaining the position as its right, while the "Sovereignty" bloc, led by Khamis al-Khanjar, and other Sunni groups argues that the role should be allocated to the Sunni community as a whole rather than a specific party or bloc.
The CF had set a deadline for the Sunni blocs to elect a new speaker, but this effort did not resolve the disputes.
Recently, Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, during his first visit to Baghdad in six years on July 3, stepped in to mediate among Sunni factions, meeting with key political leaders and officials. His efforts focused on facilitating an agreement on a candidate for the speaker role, including bringing together al-Halbousi and al-Khanjar to help resolve the ongoing crisis.
