Shafaq News/ The representative of the “Taqaddum” parliamentary bloc, Fahd Al-Rashed, confirmed on Friday that the only candidate from his bloc to occupy the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is Shalan Al-Karim.

Al-Rashed told Shafaq News Agency, “The session tomorrow, Saturday, is dedicated to electing the Speaker of the House of Representatives to replace Muhammad Al-Halbousi, and that there is more than one candidate to fill this position, including Representative Salem Al-Issawi, Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, Shalan Al-Karim and other candidates.”

He added, “The only candidate from the (Taqaddum) party is MP Shalan Al-Karim, while MP Salem Al-Issawi is the candidate of the (Sovereignty) coalition, and Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani is the candidate of the (Al-Azm) coalition.”

Al-Rashed explained, “The (Taqaddum) Party officially informed the coordination framework and the Kurdish blocs that its only candidate is Representative Shalan Al-Karim.”

Yesterday, Thursday, the Presidency of the House of Representatives set the date for holding a session to elect a new Speaker of Parliament to replace former President Muhammad al-Halbousi.

The Parliament’s Media Department issued an agenda received by Shafaq News Agency, setting next Saturday, January 13, as the date for electing the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The head of the Tasmeem parliamentary bloc, Amer Al-Fayez, revealed yesterday, Tuesday, that the Presidency of the House of Representatives has set next Saturday, corresponding to January 13, as the date for holding the first session of its new legislative term.

On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, the Federal Supreme Court, “the highest judicial authority in Iraq,” announced the termination of the membership of Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al-Halbousi, against the backdrop of a lawsuit filed against him by Representative Laith Al-Dulaimi, in which he accused him of forging his (Al-Dulaimi’s) resignation from membership in the House of Representatives. As a result, the Federal Court ruled to terminate their membership (Al-Halbousi and Al-Dulaimi).

As a result, the Presidency of the Iraqi Council of Representatives decided to officially terminate the membership of Council Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi.

Since the end of Al-Halbousi’s membership in the House of Representatives, the House has held several sessions to elect a new speaker, but the issue was not raised in those sessions due to the heads of the political blocs not agreeing on the alternative candidate.

shafaq.com