Iraqi parliament to open door for speaker nominations

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi parliament is set to convene on Wednesday and open the door for nominations for the post of the legislature’s speaker, over a week after Iraq’s top court ousted Mohammed al-Halbousi from the position.

“Electing the speaker of the parliament” is one of the items on the agenda for Wednesday’s parliamentary session, set to begin at 1:00 PM, although there has been no announcement from the political blocs about having reached an agreement on a candidate.

Under Iraq’s sectarian power-sharing system, the post of the parliament’s speaker is always reserved for the Sunnis, the prime minister position for the Shiites, and the presidency for the Kurds.

Safwan Bashir Younis, secretary general of the Iraqi parliament, said that if the legislature fails to elect a speaker today, the process of appointing a new speaker will take place following the provincial council elections set for December 18.

“There has been no agreement on a new speaker of the parliament. If there is an agreement today, there will be a vote to elect the new speaker of parliament. If not, the door for nominations will be opened and the vote to elect a new parliament speaker will happen after the provincial council elections,” Younis told Rudaw’s Nahro Mohammed.

The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court on November 14 ruled to revoke Halbousi’s parliamentary membership and end his tenure as speaker of parliament. The Sunni strongman was accused of forging the parliamentary resignation of another Sunni lawmaker in 2022 by changing the date on the document.

The court’s ruling against Halbousi jeopardizes Iraq’s upcoming provincial council elections, set for December 18. The term of the electoral commission is set to expire on December 7. If the parliament fails to extend the commission’s term before this date, the vote could be delayed.

The Iraqi parliament held its first session without Halbousi last week. The parliament’s First Deputy Speaker Muhsin al-Mandalawi chaired the meeting.