On September 15th, Iraq elected Sunni lawmaker Muhammad al-Halbousi as the new speaker of the parliament.
Muhammad al-Halbusi, 36, will be the youngest parliament speaker in the country’s history. Al-Halbusi was backed by the pro-Iranian bloc led by Hadi al-Ameri’s Conquest Alliance.
Al-Halbousi received 169 votes, while the opponent Khalid Al-Obaidi gained 89 votes.
Prireviously, al-Halbousi served as the governor of Anbar province in the western Iraq.
The first deputy speaker will be Hassan Karim who is supported by Shi’ite Muqtada al-Sadr. The political bloc won the largest share of seats in the general elections taken place in May.
Iraqi Parliament will elect the president and give the mandate to the leader of the biggest bloc in the parliament to form a government as prime minister.
The incumbent pro-U.S. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will seek a second term amid the protests in the southern province of Basra earlier in the month.
In order to ameliorate sectarian tensions and rivalries, the speaker post of Iraqi parliament is reserved for a Sunni member, while the position of prime minister is reserved for Shi’a and the presidency for a Kurd.
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
