Shiite efforts underway to nominate single Sunni candidate for Iraqi parliament speaker
Shafaq News/ Al-Hekmah Movement, led by Ammar al-Hakim, announced on Saturday that a political initiative is in progress to nominate a single Sunni candidate for the position of Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament in the coming days.
Ahmed al-Issawi, a member of the General Assembly of the Shiite movement, informed Shafaq News Agency that "various political factions are spearheading efforts to nominate a single Sunni candidate for the Speaker of Parliament to resolve the current crisis. If this consensus is not reached, a new session will be held with multiple candidates, and the one with the highest votes will be elected as Speaker."
Al-Issawi emphasized that "no political party supports keeping Mohsen al-Mandalawi as Speaker of Parliament until the end of the parliamentary term. This is a Sunni entitlement, and maintaining balance in power-sharing is crucial. Therefore, all factions within the Coordination Framework are advocating for a swift resolution of this issue."
On the progress of the initiative, al-Issawi said that "a new election session might be scheduled this week following ongoing dialogues among all political parties."
Over a week ago, the Iraqi Parliament held a session to elect a new Speaker, attended by approximately 300 members. The session failed to elect a Speaker in the first round, setting a second round of voting. In this round, Salem al-Issawi from al-Siyada, led by Khamis al-Khanjar, received 158 votes, while Mahmoud al-Mashhadani of Takadom, led by former Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, received 137 votes. Amer Abdul-Jabbar received three votes, and thirteen votes were declared invalid. The Parliament then moved towards a third round, according to a statement from the Parliamentary Media Department to Shafaq News Agency.
However, the third round was halted due to a brawl between deputies. Videos captured by lawmakers documented a verbal dispute and physical confrontation between Sunni lawmakers.
This scene mirrored the session on January 3, 2024, where similar confrontations occurred, with videos showing verbal and physical clashes among deputies.
