New movement to delay October elections
Shafaq News/ An informed political source revealed on Saturday an attempt by certain influential political blocs to delay the early elections scheduled for October, as part of a serious agreement under deliberation, adding that this agreement would entail overthrowing the current Speaker of the Parliament and keeping the PM in his position.
The legislative elections in Iraq were to be held in April of 2022 but, following wide popular protest that started in 2019 and brought down the government of Adel Abdul-Mahdi. The government of Mustafa al-Kadhimi first pledged to hold the elections in April of 2021, before agreeing on the 10th of October of 2021 as a new date for the elections following a suggestion by the Electoral Commission.
An informed source told Shafaq News Agency, "These discussions also tackled the dismissal of the Speaker of the House of Parliament Muhammad al-Halboosi who would be replaced by al-Azm Coalition leader Khamis al-Khanjar".
A previous political movement led by the former Parliament Speaker, Osama al-Nujaifi, had failed in October of last year to topple al-Halboosi.
The source indicated that the current political discussion might lead to huge ministerial changes with al-Kadhimi remaining in his position due to the difficulty of finding a replacement who would be agreed upon internally and externally.
