Takadum and Al-Siyada alliance authorizes alliance leaders to nominate new parliament speaker
Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Takadum and Al-Siyada alliance granted authority to coalition leaders to choose a replacement for the vacant Speaker of the House of Representatives position.
The alliance, representing the Sunni majority, convened to discuss the current political landscape and national developments.
During the meeting, it was decided that Muhammad al-Halbousi and Khamis al-Khanjar would be collectively authorized to nominate candidates for the crucial position of the Speaker of the House. According to the coalition's statement, the selection process will adhere to electoral eligibility criteria and seek national acceptance.
Khaleda Khalil, spokeswoman for Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani's headquarters, issued a statement emphasizing the need for consensus and acceptance among the majority of Sunni parties to elect a new Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament.
In a statement, Khalil stated, "Leader Barzani acknowledges that the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament is the right of the Sunni component, and any candidate elected to head the Iraqi Parliament must enjoy the consensus and acceptance of the majority of Sunni parties within Parliament."
The announcement comes ahead of Wednesday's scheduled election in the House of Representatives to appoint a new speaker following the Federal Supreme Court's decision to terminate the membership of Muhammad Al-Halbousi, who called the decision "strange" and suggested it violated the constitution and undermined national stability.
In a video shared by his media office, al-Halboosi said, "We are surprised by the issuance of such decisions. We are surprised by their lack of respect for the constitution."
He said that in his five years as Speaker, he had operated with integrity and "never discriminated" between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
The ministers of culture, planning, and industry resigned to protest what they said was the "targeting" of al-Halboosi.
Lawmakers had gathered for a regular parliamentary session, and al-Halboosi was in the chamber when the decision was issued but then exited.
Al-Halboosi, a former governor of Anbar governorate, was elected Speaker in 2018. He was 37 then and the youngest Speaker of Parliament in Iraq's history. He was re-elected in 2022 for a second term.
He has been the highest Sunni official in Iraq. Under the country's sectarian power-sharing system, the parliament speaker is always Sunni, the prime minister Shiite, and the president Kurdish.
Now 42, the former engineer from western Iraq who worked as a US contractor after the United States invaded in 2003 cultivated good relations with Shiite Muslims and Kurds, who helped his rise to power.
The court decided against the backdrop of a dispute between al-Halboosi and al-Dulaimi, Sunni. Al-Dulaimi had filed a lawsuit against al-Halbousi claiming that the Speaker had forged his signature on a resignation letter, an allegation the Speaker denied.