Iraqi political forces failed to elect a new president for the Iraqi parliament to succeed the president who was removed by the Federal Supreme Court last November. The parliament dedicated its session, which lasted late into the night two days ago, to elect a president from among five Sunni candidates, led by MP Shalaan Al-Kareem from the "Taqaddum" party, MP Salem Al-Aisawi from the "Soverignty" party, and the former parliament president Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani from the "Azm" alliance, who is strongly supported by the leader of the State of Law coalition, Nouri Al-Maliki.
While attention was drawn to a competition between Al-Aisawi and Al-Mashhadani due to videos accusing Al-Kareem of glorifying the Baath Party and the late President Saddam Hussein, the surprise came when Al-Kareem won the highest votes in the round, securing 152 votes, while Al-Aisawi came in second with 97 votes, and Al-Mashhadani received 48 votes.
It was expected to proceed to the second round of voting, but political figures within the Shiite coordination framework announced their rejection of Al-Kareem's victory, which only required 13 additional votes, citing his glorification of Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party, allegations that Al-Kareem has previously denied. The session was adjourned following verbal altercations with Sunni forces, and it remains unclear when a new consensus on the election of a parliament president can be reached.
