Exclusive: CF backs Al-Mashhadani for Iraqi Parliament Presidency, says CF leader

Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, the Coordination Framework (CF) announced that all its political forces agreed to support Mahmoud al-Mashhadani for the presidency of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, revealing the date of the election session.

The CF is an alliance of Shiite political groups and factions in Iraq, formed after the 2021 elections to counterbalance the Sadrist Movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr.

Key members include the head of the State of Law Coalition Nouri al-Maliki, head of the Fatah Alliance Hadi al-Amiri, head of the National Wisdom Movement (Hikma) Ammar Al-Hakim, head of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Qais al-Khazali, head of the Victory Alliance (Nasr) Haider al-Abadi, and Faleh al-Fayyad, head of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

Ali Al-Fatlawi, a CF leader, told Shafaq News, "This agreement was reached during the recent meeting of the Framework, setting the election session date for October 22nd or 23rd."

"The Sunni political forces are responsible for not electing a Speaker of Parliament in recent months due to disagreements and conflicts among themselves; therefore, the CF is determined to resolve this issue," he added.

Al-Fatlawi continued, "If some Sunni parties boycott the election session, the CF will support its candidate based on the parliamentary majority it holds, and this has been communicated to all the main political parties."

Iraq's Struggle to Elect a New Speaker

The political forces have been unable to elect a new Speaker since the termination of Mohammed Al-Halbousi's membership in November 2023 due to disputes.

The Council of Representatives held several sessions to elect a new Speaker, but all have failed to resolve the crisis, as the "Taqaddum" parliamentary bloc, led by former Speaker Al-Halbousi, insists on the position as its entitlement, while the "Sovereignty" bloc, led by Khamis Al-Khanjar, and other Sunni blocs believe the position is a right of the Sunni component and not of a party or bloc.

The CF suggested a specific period for the Sunni blocs to elect a new Speaker, but this did not resolve the Sunni disputes.

On August 14, the Al-Azm coalition, led by Muthanna al-Samarrai, and the Assiyada coalition, led by Khamis al-Khanjar, announced their support for al-Mashhadani's candidacy for Speaker of Parliament.

In a joint statement, the coalitions said their decision was in response to efforts by the Shiite Coordination Framework and the Kurdistan Democratic Party to resolve the issue of electing a Speaker in adherence to the Federal Court's ruling and to avoid constitutional violations.

This development comes after six Sunni parliamentary forces announced on August 13 that they would nominate a new candidate, replacing the ousted Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, asserting that they hold a parliamentary majority.

The six parties—Taqaddum, National Masses (Al-Jamaheer Al-Wataniyah), National Determination (Al-Hasm Al-Watani), Al-Sadara, Iraqi National Project, and Al-Mubadara—issued a joint statement, indicating that they had reached an agreement on a candidate for Speaker of Parliament.

According to information obtained by Shafaq News, the candidate agreed upon by the six forces is Ziyad al-Janabi, a close associate of al-Halbousi.