A Sunni deputy revealed today, Wednesday, that an agreement has been reached between Sunni and Shiite blocs to hold an extraordinary session to elect a new Speaker of the House of Representatives. He confirmed that the acting Speaker, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, will inform the deputies next week about the date of the anticipated session. The deputy, who preferred to remain unnamed, stated, "There is an agreement among the Sunni political blocs with the Coordination Framework to hold an extraordinary session of the House of Representatives to elect a new speaker, and the acting speaker, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, will notify the deputies about the session scheduled for next week."
He noted that there is competition for the position of Speaker of the House between deputies Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani and Salem Al-Essawi, but Al-Essawi's chances of assuming the position have increased after more than ten deputies defected from the Takaddum party and announced the formation of a new bloc, while others considered themselves independent deputies.
The Federal Supreme Court, the highest judicial authority in Iraq, had decided on November 14, 2023, to terminate the membership of Speaker of the House Mohammed Al-Halbousi following a lawsuit filed against him by Deputy Laith Al-Dulaimi, who accused him of forging his resignation from the House of Representatives. Consequently, the court ruled to terminate the membership of both (Al-Halbousi and Al-Dulaimi). On November 21, 2023, the Presidency of the Iraqi Parliament formally decided to terminate the membership of Speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi.
Since then, until June of this year, the House of Representatives has held several sessions to elect a new speaker, but disputes among Sunni political forces have hindered this process. On June 6 of this year, a deputy from the Coordination Framework, Salem Al-Anbaki, confirmed to Shafaq News that "the defection of a group of deputies from the Takaddum party has deprived it of the right to claim representation of the Sunni parliamentary majority, which has now become clear on the other side, demonstrating cohesion with steadfast deputies within the Sovereignty, Resolve, and Determination alliances, and now part of the Takaddum deputies is with them."
On June 6 of this year, 11 deputies in the Iraqi Parliament, along with members of provincial councils, announced their defection from the Takaddum party led by Mohammed Al-Halbousi and the establishment of a political front called the "Initiative Bloc." The defecting deputies and members attributed their decision to "the stagnation that the political life has reached, and the inability of the legislative authority to elect a new speaker for several months, which prompted us to establish the (Initiative) bloc to break the deadlock in the political scene."
