Baghdad, Jan 14
Amid wrangling in political blocs, the Iraqi parliament on Sunday failed to elect a new speaker to replace the sacked speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi.
The parliament session, chaired by Mohsen al-Mandalawi, the first deputy of the parliament speaker, began on Saturday afternoon and continued until the early hours of Sunday during which he announced to have received nominations from five lawmakers for the speaker post, according to a statement issued by the parliament.
After a direct secret ballot, Shaalan al-Karim garnered 152 votes, followed by Salim al-Eisawi with 97 votes and former speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani with 48 votes.
According to Iraqi law, if a candidate for the speaker post fails to gain an absolute majority of parliament seats, which is 50 percent plus one, or 166 votes, another round of direct secret ballot is held for the competing candidates.
The lawmakers failed to hold a second round following a dispute that continued into the late hours, which prompted al-Mandalawi to adjourn the session, a source in the parliament, told Xinhua.
On November 14, 2023, the Iraqi federal court ordered termination of the tenure of Iraq's Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi due to legal violations.