Iraqi parliament postpones vote for new speaker due to stalemate and political disputes

For the second consecutive time, the Iraqi parliament failed to hold a session to elect a new speaker due to political disputes between Sunni factions and Iran-backed Shia blocs that have a majority in the legislature. 

Iraq's Council of Representatives announced that an extraordinary session to elect a speaker for the council will be held on Wednesday afternoon. But late on Tuesday, it was announced that Wednesday's session was postponed due to the unavailability of many lawmakers as they were occupied with campaigns for the provincial elections scheduled on Monday. The statement did not provide further details.

Iraq's top court on 14 November revoked the parliamentary membership of Iraq's parliament former speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, on charges of forgery. On 22 November, the Iraqi parliament postponed another vote to elect a new speaker.

The disagreements regarding the candidates for parliament speaker are persisting, preventing the session. The chances of reaching an agreement appear very weak, especially with various political orientations, even within the same alliance. The lack of political harmony on a candidate complicates the voting process inside the parliament.

Several Iraqi politicians and observers have written on the X platform that the race will be between Iraq's former parliament speaker, Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, and Iraqi Sunni politician Salem al-Issawi.

Al-Mashhadani, on 29 November, exclusively told The New Arab that he is the only candidate for virtually all Sunni blocs in the election for a new speaker inside the parliament.

The Coordination Framework (CF), an alliance of Iran-backed Shiite blocs and political sides that has a majority in the parliament, Nouri Al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition, in particular, insists on nominating al-Mashhadani, thus creating a deadlock in reaching an agreement with the Sunni blocs," close sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, TNA's sister website in Arabic.

"The CF supports al-Mashhadani for the speaker position due to his proximity to them, and they will not vote for anyone else. This makes it difficult for any candidate to assume the position without political consensus, as the failure to secure votes from the CF lawmakers means a failed vote, as they have a majority in the parliament," one source clarified. 

The vote is expected to be postponed until after the local elections next Monday.

Iraq has an ethnic and sectarian power-sharing system where the speaker of parliament is usually a Sunni Arab. At the same time, the prime minister is a Shia Arab, and the president is Kurdish.

Al-Mashhadani,74, had served as the speaker of the Iraqi Parliament from 2006 to 2009. He was forced to resign after being accused of "rude behaviour" towards deputies.

Mashhadani enjoys strong relations with Iraq's powerful Shia politician and ex-prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who has close ties with Iran. 

On 9 January 2022, Mashhadani chaired the first session of the parliament as the most elderly lawmaker. Still, the session went into chaos after he fell ill and was evacuated to the hospital.

The federal court's decision followed a legal action initiated by Laith al-Dulaimi, another Sunni parliamentarian, who accused al-, also leader of the Taqadum [Progress] party, the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, of forging his resignation letter.