Shafaq News/ On Saturday, Kurdishleader Masoud Barzani and the head of the Azm Alliance, Muthanna al-Samarrai,discussed the efforts to elect a new Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament and thelatest developments in the region.
Discussions took place duringBarzani's reception of Al-Samarrai and his accompanying delegation at the Saladinresort in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.
During the meeting, they exchangedviews and opinions regarding the political situation and developments in Iraq,and discussed recent efforts to elect a new Speaker.
The Speaker position has been vacantsince November 14, 2023, when the Federal Supreme Court ended Mohammedal-Halbousi’s tenure due to "fraud" allegations brought by MP Laithal-Dulaimi.
The ongoing deadlock in electing anew Speaker stems from disagreements among Sunni blocs over the position.
Despite several parliamentarysessions, the crisis remains unresolved. The "Taqaddum" bloc, led byformer Speaker al-Halbousi, insists on retaining the position as its right,while the "Sovereignty" bloc, led by Khamis al-Khanjar, and otherSunni groups argues that the role should be allocated to the Sunni community asa whole rather than a specific party or bloc.
The Coordination Framework had set adeadline for the Sunni blocs to elect a new speaker, but this effort did notresolve the disputes.
Recently, Kurdish leader MasoudBarzani, during his first visit to Baghdad in six years on July 3, stepped into mediate among Sunni factions, meeting with key political leaders andofficials. His efforts focused on facilitating an agreement on a candidate forthe speaker role, including bringing together al-Halbousi and al-Khanjar tohelp resolve the ongoing crisis.