Breathless in the Green Zone: countdown to ending Iraq’s parliament presidency dilemma
Shafaq News/ With political tensions simmering and external pressuresmounting, Iraq's Coordination Framework (CF) has thrown its weight behindMahmoud Al-Mashhadani for the parliament presidency, marking a new step towardsresolving the months-long deadlock that has left the country without aparliamentary speaker.
Parliament Presidency Dilemma
Since the removal of former Speaker Mohammed Al-Halboosi in November2023, Iraq’s political forces have struggled to elect a new parliament speaker.Numerous sessions have been held, but deep divisions persist.
Al-Halboosi’s Taqaddum bloc insists that the speaker's position is itsrightful claim. However, the Al-Siyada coalition, led by Khamis Al-Khanjar,along with other Sunni factions, argues that the position should represent theSunni community as a whole rather than a specific party.
Ongoing Challenges
Abdulrahman Al-Jazayeri, a leader in the Coordination Framework,revealed details of a recent meeting held at Nouri Al-Maliki's residence withkey Sunni factions. He noted, “following the meeting, certain Sunni blocsinvolved in the speaker’s selection issued statements signaling their intent toboycott the election session scheduled for next Wednesday.”
"Some within the Sunni component were critical of the meeting’soutcomes," Al-Jazayeri told Shafaq News, "viewing them as imposeddecisions by the Shiite majority." He added that the Framework isdetermined to avoid delaying the session, especially amid growing"regional tensions, threats from Israel and the US, and the ongoingconflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, which are heightening the instability in Iraq'sparliament."
Al-Jazayeri explained that the Al-Azm coalition, another Sunni faction,has even threatened to withdraw from the political process, while Taqaddumremains aligned with the State of Law Coalition. “Taqaddum has backedAl-Halboosi’s candidate for speaker, Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, who is alsosupported by the State of Law and its allies.”
Despite this, Al-Jazayeri acknowledged the ongoing dissatisfactionwithin Taqaddum about the speaker’s nomination, leading to furtherdisagreement. "The Framework has made it clear that the session willproceed with or without full agreement, as long as a quorum (Half + 1) isachieved," he added.
Impact of External Players
Al-Jazayeri did not rule out external influences, pointing to TurkishPresident Recep Tayyib Erdogan’s recent visit to Baghdad, “during which he metwith Sunni leaders to discuss the speaker’s election.” Additionally, there areclaims of Gulf and Iranian involvement in “shaping the Sunni bloc’s decisions,particularly in Al-Anbar.”
Push for Sunni Consensus
Former MP Nawaf Kamel Al-Ghurairi expressed that a resolution isinevitable. He believed there is a framework agreement, but emphasized thatmany Sunni factions still view the speaker’s position as belonging to the Sunnicommunity, not to any one political bloc.
Al-Ghurairi told Shafaq News that Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani is likely to be “thefinal choice.”
In turn, political analyst Abbas Al-Jubouri echoed this sentiment,attributing the delays to persistent disagreements within the Sunni factions."Each Sunni party wants to claim the position for itself," Al-Jubourisaid, adding that the decision-making process has been further complicated byconditions set by the CF and Kurdish parties.
He further noted that without a unified Sunni candidate, Iraq could seea repeat of the 2018 scenario, where the parliament had to step in to resolvethe issue. "Ultimately, if consensus isn’t reached, parliament will stepin to make the decision."
A Session Within Days
Last week, the Coordination Framework confirmed its support forAl-Mashhadani. Ali Al-Fatlawi, another CF leader, announced that the bloc hadunanimously agreed on Al-Mashhadani’s candidacy and that the election sessionis set for the 22nd or 23rd of this month.
In this context, political analyst Ibrahim Al-Dulaimi indicated that atentative agreement has been reached among the various blocs to hold anextraordinary session to elect the new speaker within the next week. Heexplained to Shafaq News that “several key laws, pending the presence of thespeaker, are awaiting passage. Therefore, the CF, along with Sunni and Kurdishblocs, is eager to proceed without further delays.”
