Nine months after al-Halbousi's membership ended, no agreement on new Speaker
Shafaq News/ A member of the National Initiative Bloc (Al-Mubadara) revealed on Monday that there is still no political consensus on a candidate to succeed Mohammed al-Halbousi as Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, despite nine months having passed since the Federal Supreme Court terminated his membership.
Al-Rashid told Shafaq News Agency, "So far, there is no agreement among Sunni blocs on a specific candidate for the position, nor is there any official timeline or schedule set for holding a session to elect a new Speaker."
He also revealed different political opinions regarding amending the Parliament's internal rules of procedure. "Some are pushing to override the Federal Supreme Court's decisions, while others argue that the court has no role in amending the rules."
Since the Federal Supreme Court decided on November 14, 2023, to terminate Mohammed al-Halbousi's membership based on a "fraud" lawsuit filed by MP Laith al-Dulaimi, the Parliament has been unable to elect a new Speaker due to disagreements among Sunni blocs over the position.
Parliament has held several sessions to elect a new Speaker, but none have resolved the crisis. The Taqaddum parliamentary bloc, led by al-Halbousi, insists on retaining the position, viewing it as its entitlement. Meanwhile, the Sovereignty bloc (Al-Siyada), led by Khamis al-Khanjar, and other Sunni blocs argue that the position is a Sunni entitlement, not one for a specific party or bloc.
The Coordination Framework, which unites Shiite forces excluding the Sadrist Movement, gave Sunni blocs a deadline to elect a new Speaker.
Recently, Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani intervened to mediate between Sunni factions and reach an agreement on a candidate for the Speaker position. On July 3, Barzani visited Baghdad for the first time in six years, meeting with top political leaders and Iraqi officials. He successfully brought together al-Halbousi and al-Khanjar in a meeting to resolve the dispute over the Speaker position. Still, the disagreements persisted.
