Iraq’s Parliament Agrees on New Speaker After Year of Deadlock
Iraq’s unicameral legislature elected a new speaker on Thursday after the body’s disparate factions came to a surprise agreement on a compromise candidate to fill the seat after nearly a year of vacancy.
Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni lawmaker with close ties to Iran, sailed to a solid majority in Thursday’s election, receiving votes from 182 out of the 269 present representatives.
Mashhadani previously held the speakership from 2006 to 2009 and will succeed popular former Sunni politician Mohammed al-Halbousi, who was removed from office as part of a controversial ruling by Iraq’s top court over an alleged forgery in November of last year.
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The lawsuit against Halbousi was filed by then-lawmaker Laith al-Dulaimi, who alleged that the former speaker forged his signature on a letter of resignation.
Without providing any further explanation, the Federal Supreme Court elected to terminate both politicians’ membership in parliament and, in effect, automatically ejected Halbousi from the speakership in a decision that enraged his massive base of support amongst Iraq’s large Sunni minority.
Mashhadani, chosen by pro-Iran Shia factions and a Sunni bloc close to Halbousi, will need to balance the interests of Iran-aligned parties and their powerful militias without alienating the US.
Iraq’s governmental structure reflects the country’s sectarian divisions falling along religious and ethnic lines, wherein the role of speaker is reserved for a Sunni while the prime minister is Shia, and the presidency is held by a Kurd.
Shia Muslims make up roughly 55–60% of the population; Sunni Muslims are 40%, while Kurds are about 15%, according to US State Department figures.
