Coordination Framework to meet to discuss a roster of Sunni candidates for Iraqi parliament speaker

Shafaq News/ The Coordination Framework, a consortium of mainly Iran-backed Shiite political forces, is scheduled to meet on Monday evening to discuss potential replacements for the ousted parliament speaker, Mohammad al-Halboosi.

Last week, Former Parliament Speaker al-Halboosi appeared before the judiciary to answer allegations of forgery. Al-Halbousi, who was ousted from office by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court in November, said he had been accused of forging a letter of resignation from lawmaker Laith al-Dulaimi. He denied the allegations, saying that the letter was authentic.

A well-informed source told Shafaq News Agency that today's meeting will be attended by the top leaders of the Coordination Framework, who will delve into a roster of Sunni candidates proposed by the leading Sunni political forces.

The source said that the Coordination Framework is expected to announce its decision after the meeting.

Yesterday, Lawmaker Nihal al-Shammari said that the Iraqi parliament will not vote for a new speaker until after the local election scheduled to take place on December 18. Al-Shammari told the Shafaq News Agency that the postponement was decided following an agreement between the political entities in Iraq.

This agreement, according to the lawmaker, implies no changes in the roster of candidates vying for the post.

Al-Shammari did not exclude the possibility of choosing a candidate from outside Takaddom, pointing out whether al-Halboosi's replacement is a member of his party or not is heavily influenced by the local election results.

The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court's surprise decision upended the career of Iraq's most powerful Sunni Muslim politician and set the stage for a fight over succession.

Al-Halboosi's ouster -and the consequent resignation of the country's planning, industry, and culture ministers- destabilizes the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who came to power one year ago backed by a coalition that is led by a group of Shiite parties but also includes Kurds and Sunni Arabs.

Re-elected in 2021, the former governor of al-Anbar was serving his second term as speaker, a post he assumed in 2018 at 37. Under the sectarian power-sharing system established after the 2003 U.S. invasion, a parliament speaker is the highest office for a Sunni Muslim.