Iraqi parliament speaker vote faces uncertainty as key party considers boycott

Shafaq News/ The "Taqaddum" party, led by the ousted speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Mohammed al-Halboosi, on Monday hinted at boycotting the upcoming session to elect a new speaker amid disagreements over a replacement candidate.

The parliament has set Wednesday, December 13th, as the date for a session to elect a new speaker to succeed al-Halbousi.

"So far, the major political parties have failed to reach common ground over the next parliament speaker of the country," said Mohammad al-Alawi, a leading figure in Taqaddum, in a statement to Shafaq News agency. "We in the (Taqaddum) party have not yet decided whether or not to participate in the Wednesday session."

"It is contingent upon the ongoing talks. We are still awaiting al-Halboosi's instructions," he said.

Al-Alawi insisted that the new speaker should be a member of Taqaddum because it has the largest share of Sunni seats in the Iraqi parliament.

"The session on Wednesday may be postponed again until further notice, especially since the (Taqaddum) party is currently only preoccupied with the elections file," al-Alawi stated.

Sabah Subhi, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party's bloc in the Iraqi parliament, said that Sunni lawmakers have submitted a request for an extraordinary session to elect a new speaker but there was no response from the parliament presidium.

Lawmaker Thaer al-Jubouri played down those calls in a statement to Shafaq News Agency on Saturday and confirmed that the parliament presidium had not called in for any session.

"Holding an emergency session requires the signature of 50 lawmakers. But nobody has collected any signatures so far," the member of the State of Law bloc added.

"It is unlikely that a vote on a new speaker will take place prior to the election," he said. "Calling in a session during the legislative recess, while all the lawmakers preoccupied with the preparations for the upcoming local, is unfeasible."