Vote for speaker adjourned following a brawl between lawmakers in parliament hall

Shafaq News/ Iraq's parliament has failed to elect a new Speaker and break a political deadlock that has gripped the country for months.

Lawmakers held a session on Wednesday to pick a replacement for former Speaker Mohammad al-Halboosi, whose term was ended by the Federal Supreme Court after a fallout with a fellow lawmaker, but disagreements prevented them from reaching the required thresholds.

Tensions erupted in the parliament's hall following a brawl that broke out between the lawmakers. Lengthy hours of negotiations and two voting rounds saw a fierce competition between Shaalan al-Karim, who's backed by al-Halboosi himself, and Salem al-Issawi, the candidate of rival Sovereignty Alliance.

"After the brawl, Acting Speaker Muhsen al-Mandalawi opted to adjourn the session," a source told Shafaq News Agency.

Al-Kareem was not able to secure the required majority even though he mustered the backing of 152 fellow lawmakers. His closes competitor, al-Issawi, manged to secure 97 of 232 available votes during this poll.

Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, Talal al-Zawba'i, and Amer Abdul-Jabbar received a combined total of 63 votes.