CF deputy preempts session to choose al-Halbousi's replacement: disagreements persist over candidates

Shafaq News / Mohammed Al-Baldawi, deputy within the Coordination Framework (CF), affirmed on Tuesday that disagreements regarding the selection of the new president of the Parliament are still ongoing, and the blocs have not yet reached an agreement on an alternative candidate.

Al-Baldawi told Shafaq News Agency, "There is a political dispute and no consensus has been reached on a specific individual to be elected as the president of the Parliament. The continuation of these disagreements will postpone the session for electing the president until further notice."

He added, "There is no agreement on a single candidate to assume the position of the Parliament's president. The bloc responsible for nominating an alternative has not presented a single candidate, but rather six candidates and it is likely that the number of candidates will increase in tomorrow's session."

Al-Baldawi clarified that "the names of the candidates for the presidency of the Parliament remain unchanged at present: Salem Al-Essaawi, Shaalan Al-Kareem, Abdul Kareem Abtan, and Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani. These four candidates have begun to engage with the political blocs to secure their support in the presidential election."

Yesterday, the "Takkadom" party, led by the ousted Speaker of Parliament, Mohammed Al-Halbousi, hinted at boycotting the session to elect the new parliament speaker, confirming that there is no agreement among the political blocs on an alternative candidate.

The party's leader, Mohammed Al-Alawi, stated to Shafaq News Agency, "As of now, there is no political agreement to support a specific candidate for the presidency of the Parliament. As a party, we have not decided yet whether to participate or not in Wednesday's session. This decision depends on the anticipated dialogue results, and we await guidance from Al-Halbousi."

Al-Alawi pointed out that "the position of the Parliament's speaker is a right of the Takkadom party and will remain within our share. We believe that the final decision on the Parliament's presidency will likely come after the provincial councils' elections. Wednesday's session might once again be postponed, especially since Takkadom is currently preoccupied only with the election issue."

Last Saturday, the State of Law Coalition and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) blocs addressed the issue of a political agreement on electing the Parliament's president during the current week.

Tha'er Al-Jubouri, a deputy within the State of Law Coalition, told Shafaq News Agency, "So far, there has not been any official communication from the Parliament's presidency regarding scheduling any imminent session to elect the Parliament's president, especially since the Parliament is currently in legislative recess, and convening a session requires the signatures of 50 deputies." He confirmed that "there have been no signatures collected thus far."

He explained that "all indicators and information suggest that the election of the new Parliament's president will occur after the provincial councils' elections. Holding any session currently is difficult due to the legislative recess and the engagements of deputies and blocs in their electoral campaigns, especially with the elections drawing near."

Meanwhile, Sabah Subhi, a KDP deputy, told Shafaq News Agency that "the Sunni blocs have submitted a request to the Parliament's presidency to hold an emergency session on Tuesday to elect a new president for the Parliament."

He clarified that "the Parliament's presidency has not announced its position and has not officially set a date for electing a president for the Parliament."

The Iraqi Parliament's presidency decided to formally terminate the membership of the Parliament's Speaker,

Mohammed Al-Halbousi, based on a decision from the Federal Supreme Court, effective from the 14th of November 2023.

The Federal Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in Iraq, announced on the 14th of November this year the termination of the membership of Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi. This followed a legal suit filed against him by MP Laith Al-Dulaimi, accusing him of forging Al-Dulaimi's resignation from the Parliament membership. As a result, the Federal Court ruled to terminate their memberships (Al-Halbousi and Al-Dulaimi).

Subsequently, ministers from the Takkadom party resigned from their positions in protest, and the party's MPs in the Parliament decided to boycott parliamentary sessions.