Iraqi President Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid called on political forces and parliamentary blocs on Sunday to elect a new Speaker of the Council of Representatives. During the official celebration marking the centenary of the establishment of the first parliamentary council, the President stated that "Iraq is among the foremost countries that established a constitution, which was at the time the most advanced and democratic in terms of principles and foundations, and ensured rights and freedoms." He noted that "the founders of the national government worked to ensure that the Iraqi fundamental law was written by Iraqi hands."
He added, "Iraq has emerged from the era of totalitarian regimes, after the people rejected the tyranny of the dictator during multiple uprisings, which were met with repression and extermination until the land was filled with the bodies of martyrs, culminating in a democratic system embodied in the 2005 Constitution."
He emphasized that "as political leaders and decision-makers, we must complete the establishment of the institutions stipulated in the constitution, foremost among them the Council of the Union, to ensure the success of our democratic experience," calling on "political forces and the Council of Representatives to expedite the election of a new Speaker of the Council to complete and enact laws that serve the nation and its citizens."
He pointed out that "on this occasion we remember a history in which the country took the lead in practicing political life, constitutional establishment, parliamentary experience, and democracy based on opinion and counter-opinion."
He explained that "the Iraqi constitution ensures the participation of all national Iraqi factions in governance and combats authoritarianism and monopolization in decision-making," noting that "the world today is experiencing a decline in democracy due to the influence of money and practices of authoritarianism that have affected the results of elections in many countries."
