Political gridlock over Iraq's Parliamentary Speaker
Shafaq News / The process of electing a new Speaker for the Iraqi Parliament can be best described as uncertain.
Despite extending the first legislative session, which ended yesterday, by an additional thirty days, Sunni-Sunni disputes and differing views among leaders of the Shiite blocs, aligned under the "Coordination Framework", intensify over the nominated candidates for the position and who will ultimately grasp the parliamentary gavel.
Traditionally, the position of the Speaker of the Parliament is allocated to the Sunni community in Iraq's political tradition since the formation of the political system post-2003. Conversely, the Prime Minister's post goes to the Shiites, and the Presidency to the Kurds.
The Parliament has failed in four attempts to elect a successor to Al-Halbousi due to the lack of consensus on a single candidate. Sunni fragmentation and the Coordination Framework's insistence on nominating new figures or retaining Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, as acting Speaker, further complicate matters.
Three Sunni candidates are currently competing for the position: Salem Al-Issawi who received 97 votes in the first session held last January, Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani who received 48 votes; and Talal Al-Zobaie who received one vote.
In this context, the Coordination Framework confirmed no political agreement on the election of the Parliament Speaker this week, amid speculations regarding the Taqadum Party's support for nominating either Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani or Talal Al-Zobaie.
Thaer Al-Jubouri, a Framework deputy, told Shafaq News agency that "the disagreements among Sunni political forces are still deep, and there is no agreement among them to resolve the election of the Parliament Speaker. No political agreement can be reached among the political blocs to hold a session to elect the Speaker without Sunni consensus."
Al-Jubouri added that "talk about support from the Taqadum Party to nominate Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani or Talal Al-Zobaie is mere media leaks to gauge public opinion. The Taqadum Party has not communicated any such idea or proposal during the dialogues and negotiations. Therefore, conflicts persist, and there is no agreement to settle the position during this week."
Meanwhile, Taqadum, led by Mohammed Al-Halbousi, revealed that there is indeed a tendency from their side to support "either Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani or Talal Al-Zobaie to prevent Salem Al-Issawi from taking the position."
Mohammed Al-Alawi, a leader in the party, stated that "all options are on the table for the Taqadum Party. However, the primary goal remains amending the internal regulations of the Parliament to present a candidate from the party. If this goal is not achieved, the next Speaker of the Parliament will be chosen by Al-Halbousi."
Al-Alawi clarified, "There is a significant possibility of amending the internal regulations of the Parliament, and we are in contact with the Shiite Coordination Framework. There has been responsiveness from within the Framework, so it is possible to amend the system and present a new candidate from the Taqadum Party for the Speaker of the Parliament position."
He concluded, "Supporting a figure for the Speaker of the Parliament from one of the Sunni candidates may be an option, but so far, there is no such direction. Our political and parliamentary work focuses on amending the internal regulations, nothing else."
On November 14, 2023, the Federal Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in Iraq, decided to end the membership of Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi. Then, the Iraqi Parliament officially terminated his membership on November 21, 2023.
On January 13, the Iraqi Parliament held an extraordinary session to choose the new Speaker. The first round of voting ended with the victory of the "Taqaddum" party's Shaalan al-Karim with 152 votes out of 314. MP Salem Al-Issawi followed him with 97 votes, MP Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani with 48 votes, MP Amer Abduljabbar with six votes, and MP Talal Al-Zobaie with one vote.
However, due to verbal altercations inside the council hall, the session was adjourned without completing the election process, and no other session was held.
Since then, the political blocs have been unable to agree on a replacement for him, with each side wanting to nominate someone from their group.
Despite al-Halbousi's Taqaddum Party insists on retaining the position because it holds the parliamentary majority within the Sunni component, his opponents from the Sovereignty (Al-Siyada), al-Azm, and Resolve (Al-Hasm) blocs believe that the position is the right of the component without being bound by a specific political title.
