Share :

Download PDF :

Anadolu Agency (12 September 2018)

By Ali Jawad  

BAGHDAD 

Sunni political blocs have failed to agree on a nominee for the post of speaker of Iraq’s newly-elected parliament, a lawmaker said Wednesday.  

“We’re still considering nine different people for the nomination,” MP Mohamed al-Khaledi, head of parliament’s Sunni Bayariq al-Khair bloc, told Anadolu Agency.  

Al-Khaledi himself is a nominee for the post, along with eight other Sunni politicians, including former Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi and current Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi.  

On Saturday, parliament will convene to elect a new speaker and two deputies.  

Last week, parliament postponed the election of a new speaker to mid-September after a number of lawmakers decided to boycott the vote.   

Within 30 days of its first session, which was held last week, parliament should elect -- by a two-thirds majority -- the country’s next president, according to Iraq’s constitution.  

The new president will then task the majority bloc in parliament with drawing up a government, which must be referred back to the assembly for approval.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iraq-sunnis-fail-to-agree-on-parliament-speaker-nominee/1252928