Despite Halbousi abandoning him… Al-Mashhadani is the closest to the parliament presidency
Despite Halbousi abandoning him… Al-Mashhadani is the closest to the parliament presidency
9-16-2024
Information/Report…
Leaks from within the Iraqi political system indicate that the candidate for the presidency of the House of Representatives, Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, has become the closest to assuming the position, while they indicated that there are attempts by the dismissed Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mohammed Al-Halbousi, to prevent his arrival after he abandoned it.
The position of Speaker of Parliament remained without a president for nine months after its Speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, was dismissed by a decision of the Federal Court on charges of forgery late last year.
It seems that the Shiite parties will have the final say in supporting one of the candidates for the position, as the balance is tilted towards Al-Mashhadani, although the last voting session witnessed the other candidate, Salem Al-Issawi, coming ahead in the number of votes.
The head of the Design Bloc, MP Amer Al-Fayez, confirmed that the Sunni blocs have begun to unite and agree on the personality of one candidate among the candidates.
Al-Fayez expected in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency that the issue would be resolved this week or the week after, indicating that Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani is the closest to assuming this position.
He explained that “what is being said about amending the internal regulations to change the candidates for the parliament presidency is just media talk and is not related to official procedures within the council,” noting that “the continued delay in resolving this issue has greatly harmed the political and democratic process and entitlements according to what political norms require.”
On the other hand, independent politician Salah Al-Kubaisi criticized the duality of the dismissed Parliament Speaker, Mohammed Al-Halbousi, in abandoning support for his candidates and moving towards demanding an amendment to the internal regulations of the House of Representatives.
Al-Kubaisi told Al-Maalouma, “The last meeting between the political blocs put the leader of the Progress Party, Mohammed al-Halbousi, in an embarrassing situation in front of the attendees regarding the issue of the presidency of the House of Representatives, as the meeting witnessed changes in some positions, which pushes towards holding a session of the House of Representatives within a period that may not exceed two weeks, in order to choose one of the candidates to be the Speaker of the House,” indicating that “the paradox that has occurred recently is that al-Halbousi supported Mahmoud al-Mashhadani for the presidency and at the same time he is demanding the opening of the nomination door and amending the internal regulations, which is a surprising matter and confirms that he has abandoned al-Mashhadani in a very clear manner in exchange for changes in the positions of the blocs such as al-Azm and al-Siyada after announcing their support for al-Mashhadani after they had supported Salem al-Issawi.”
For his part, Azm Alliance member Azzam Al-Hamdani confirmed that amending the internal regulations of the House of Representatives would open the door to problems and keep the position without a president for the longest possible period.
He said, “The Azm and Sovereignty alliances agreed to nominate Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani because he is a name that was previously proposed and does not require amending the internal regulations. In addition, Al-Mashhadani was chosen because of the Shiite consensus on him and his great chances of winning the position.”
Some Sunni forces, especially the Progress Party, are seeking to amend the third paragraph of Article 12 of the House of Representatives’ internal regulations, which relates to the election of the Speaker of Parliament, which states: “If the position of the Speaker of the House or any of his deputies becomes vacant for any reason, the House shall elect a successor by an absolute majority in the first session it holds to fill the vacancy in accordance with the controls of political balances between the blocs.”
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