Iraqi parliament begins vote counting for a successor to al-Halboosi

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi parliament on Saturday commenced the process of vote counting and tallying to elect a new Speaker, replacing ousted Mohammad al-Halboosi.

Shafaq News Agency reporter said that the vote counting began a short while ago, with a total of 260 lawmakers participating in the voting process.

Earlier in the day, Acting Speaker Mihsen al-Mandalawi inaugurated the first session of the current legislative term, specifically convened for the election of a new Speaker in lieu of the dismissed al-Halboosi.

Shafaq News Agency's correspondent detailed that al-Mandlawi initiated the session after achieving the required legal quorum with the attendance of 260 deputies.

Fahd al-Rashed, a member of the "Taqadum" parliamentary bloc, confirmed on Friday that their sole candidate for the position of Parliament Speaker is Shalan al-Karim. Al-Rashed stated, "Saturday's session is dedicated to electing a new Speaker, and there are multiple candidates for this position, including MPs Salem al-Issawi, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, Shalan al-Karim, and other candidates."

He further clarified that "the sole candidate from the 'Taqadum' bloc is MP Shalan al-Karim," formally notifying the coordinating framework and Kurdish blocs of their party's singular candidate.

The number of candidates for the position of Parliament Speaker totals five MPs, namely Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, Salem al-Issawi, Shalan al-Karim, Talal al-Zubai, and Amer Abduljabbar. Notably, the sixth candidate, Abdulrahim al-Shammari, withdrew from the race before the session convened.

Since the termination of Mohammed al-Halbousi's membership in the Parliament, multiple sessions have been convened to elect a new Speaker. However, consensus among the leaders of Iraqi political blocs on a replacement candidate remained elusive form months.