Baghdad, November 1 (IANS). The new speaker of the Iraqi parliament will be Mahmoud al-Mashhadani. This post was vacant for almost a year due to differences of opinion among political parties in the country. This information was given by the Iraqi Parliament.
A statement from the Iraqi parliament said al-Mashhadani had been elected as the new speaker of the parliament after two rounds of direct voting.
Al-Mashhadani received 182 votes in the second round of voting, while his rival Salim al-Issawi received 42 votes, Xinhua news agency quoted a parliament statement as saying.
Al-Mashhadani, 76, previously served as Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives from 2006 to 2008.
The Iraqi Federal Court ruled on November 14, 2023, to terminate the tenure of then-Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi due to violations of law in the country.
Earlier in the voting held in January 2024, former speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani had finished third. After the direct secret ballot, Shalan al-Karim received 152 votes, followed by Salim al-Isawi with 97 votes and Mashhadani with 48 votes.
Al-Mashhadani’s election came almost a year after the dismissal of the previous speaker of parliament.
Subsequently, the House of Representatives failed to elect a speaker several times in the wake of political differences and divisions in the Sunni House, and since November last year the post was being managed by the House’s First Deputy Speaker Mohsen al-Mandalwi. Which is from Shia component.
-IANS
PSM/KR
