Iraq’s new parliament holds first session to form new government

Middle East, News January 10, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Nearly three months after Iraq’s general election, the country’s new parliament held its first session on January 9 marking an important step towards forming a new government.

Iraq’s new parliament elected Sunni lawmaker Mohammed al-Halbousi as speaker of parliament, Hakim al-Zamili as first deputy speaker, and Shakhwan Abdulla as second deputy speaker, in a session after months of tense negotiations, as the country is close to establishing a new government and have taken important steps toward establishing a new government.

Chaos briefly erupted in the chamber as competing Shiite political blocs all claimed a parliamentary majority. Iraq’s Acting Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashahadani suddenly fell ill and was taken to hospital, forcing the meeting to be briefly adjourned. After the hiatus, parliamentary sessions resumed.

During the session, there were heated debates among lawmakers over the number of seats, as Shiite political coalition Fatah and the State of Law coalition submitted a document to the acting speaker stating that their coalition be the largest bloc. However, Moqtada al-Sadr’s party firmly objected to the request and defended their position as the largest bloc in parliament.

A Kurdish lawmaker Jamal Kojar said, “The debate between Shi’ite parties over which bloc is the largest in parliament has disrupted the session and forced a brief delay.”

The session was attended by 228 members of parliament, who voted for al-Halbousi or al-Mashhadani to become the country’s speaker of the parliament. Al-Halbousi won by an overwhelming majority of 200 votes, while former Speaker al-Mashhadani received 14 votes, and the remaining votes were invalidated.

Iraq's new parliament elected Mohammed al-Halbousi as speaker of parliament, Hakim al-Zamili as first deputy speaker, and Shakhwan Abdulla as second deputy speaker, in a session held in Baghdad, January 9, 2022. (Image Credit: Iraqi Parliament Media Office/Handout via Reuters) — ^{Iraq’s new parliament elected Mohammed al-Halbousi as speaker of parliament, Hakim al-Zamili as first deputy speaker, and Shakhwan Abdulla as second deputy speaker, in a session held in Baghdad, January 9, 2022. (Image Credit: Iraqi Parliament Media Office/Handout via Reuters)}

Under Iraq’s power-sharing system, the first deputy must be from the Shiite community and the second must be from the Kurds.

Al-Halbousi’s Sunni party came second with 37 seats, and he has the backing of al-Sadr, Kurds, and Sunni groups. Al-Halbousi will be the youngest speaker of parliament in Iraq’s history.

The Iraqi Parliament will now elect a president and empower the leader of the largest bloc to form a government as prime minister.

To quell sectarian tensions and confrontations between rival parties, a Sunni member of the Iraqi parliament serves as the speaker, while the prime minister is to be selected from the Shiite community and the president to be a Kurd.