The second unsuccessful session of the Iraqi parliament; Continuity of uncertainty in appointing the president

, after the cancellation of the membership of Mohammad al-Halbusi, the former Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, due to the falsification of Laith Al-Dulaimi’s resignation letter, the Speaker’s seat was temporarily handed over to Mohsen Al-Mandlawi, the first vice-speaker.

Mohammed al-Halbousi, who appeared in the provincial assembly elections enthusiastically after being removed from the post of Iraqi parliament speaker, announced in a statement: I will sit down.” He meant this threat to take revenge on the experienced Sunni leaders who planned to form a coalition against him. But the controversy between the two age groups did not end here.

Two months later, in December of last year, it was decided to appoint the chairman of the parliament. The Sunnis entered the competition with three main candidates, Salem Al-Eisawi (candidate of Al-Siyadeh coalition led by Khamis Al-Khanjar), Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani (candidate of Azm coalition led by Mothni Al-Samrai) and Sholan Al-Karim (candidate of Toad party led by Mohammad Al-Halbousi).

Shalan Al-Karim, Member of Parliament and former head of the Toad faction

The statements made by the leaders of the Shiite parties and sources close to them, pushed the Iraqi media to the direction that the competition is limited to Salem Al-Eisawi and Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani will be. But after the start of the first round of voting, prominent members of the parties in the parliament expressed their surprise at the result; Because Sholan Al-Karim, who was the head of the Tadegh faction in the parliament, was able to get 152 votes; On the other hand, Salem Al-Eisawi and Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani got 48 votes.

Hidden angles of the first round of the election of the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament

Meanwhile, before the first round of voting, an agreement was reached between Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq, and Khamis al-Khanjar, the leader of the Al-Siyadeh coalition. Barzani announced to Khamis Al-Khanjar with the aim of uniting Beit-Sunni, whichever candidate can get more votes in the first round, ask the other candidates you have supported to withdraw in the second round and the votes will be directed in favor of the winner.

However, in an unexpected event, while the head of the Tadhad faction was one step away from the presidential seat, representatives from the Tadhad party managed to prevent the holding of vote in the second round.

According to the law, the second round elections are held between the people who got the most votes in the first round, but representatives From Basra, they were trying to dissuade Salem Al-Eisawi from participating in the second round, so that the final competition between Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani and Sholan Al-Karim would be held in this way. However, these efforts failed due to Al-Eisawi’s opposition.

Discord in Halabousi party

With the suspension of holding the second round of the election of the Speaker of the Parliament due to disruption by some representatives of the Toad Party, the next round of the election of the Speaker of the Parliament was postponed for nearly four months. After Al-Halbousi’s departure, members of the Toad party consider the seat of the parliament chairman to be their share and say that under any circumstances, only a person who has the support of the Toad party can rely on the chair. This issue exacerbated the differences in the age group.

events before the second round of elections

in the distance During the first and second rounds, the Sunni parties moved between coalitions in a more scattered way than before. Sholan Al-Karim resigned from this party and withdrew from the competition for the seat of the parliament, while he was the only candidate for the presidency of the parliament. Also, a number of members of the Toad Party announced themselves as independent representatives following the resignation of Sholan Al-Karim. The leadership of Mushani al-Samrai left and formed a four-way coalition called “Al-Sadarah” and then attracted the support of the Toad party. Tadegh, who had no other candidates left, had to support Mashhadani’s candidacy so that for the first time, Nouri al-Maliki (head of the Government of Law Coalition) and Mohammad Al-Halbousi reached a consensus on an option.

The triple coalition of Sunnis with the participation of Hassem (led by Thabit al-Abassi, the Minister of Defense and Osama al-Nujaifi, the former speaker of the parliament), Azm (Muthani al-Samrai) and al-Siyadeh (Khamis al-Khanjar) chose Salem al-Aisawi as their only option. nominated for the presidency of the parliament.

Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani, the candidate for the speaker of the parliament from the Azam coalition (right) and Salem Al-Eisawi, the candidate for the speaker of the parliament from the Al-Siyadeh coalition (Left)

Eventually the options were narrowed down between the two, but even this reduced the differences in Bayt Ahl al-Sunnah did not lead. This time, the dispute between Sani-Sani currents started over having a numerical majority (in the Sani bit). The Tadagh party claimed that the numerical majority should be based on the results of the elections. On the other hand, the triple coalition believed in the current majority after the announcement of the departure of some members of the Toad party, but none of the separated people were willing to announce in front of the media which of the coalitions they participated in and which faction they belong to. .

position of the coordination framework

prominent leaders of the coordination framework such as Seyyed Ammar Al-Hakim, Nouri Al-Maliki and Hadi Al-Amiri entered into negotiations with the two sides of the competition for the seat of the Iraqi Parliament Speaker (from one side, the Tripartite Coalition and from the other side, the Tohadad Party). Considering the share of Sunnis in the competition for the said seat, the general opinion of the coordination framework was that they should not directly enter into this conflict until the Sunni parties reach a consensus on their desired option.

Margins of the second round of elections

Yesterday, the second round of elections was held in the parliament after a 4-month break, without any agreement between the parties. . In this round, Salem Al-Eisawi was able to get 158 ​​votes and Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani 137 votes out of a total of 322 people. However, none of the two candidates could win an absolute majority. The minimum number of votes required to reach the seat of the parliament chairman is to obtain the votes of 166 representatives, which none of these two have been able to achieve this number so far.

After the announcement of the results of the second round, Mohsen Al Mandalavi, the first vice president of the parliament, who has been in charge of the interim chairman for several months, announced the end of the session and added that a decision will soon be made on holding the third round. we take. But it didn’t take long for the MPs to agree on holding the third round of the elections, with the difference that 132 MPs, including the Tadagh Party and the Government of Law coalition and some other movements, boycotted the participation in the third round.

A picture of Hibet al-Halbousi, a member of the Toad party, being hit

as a result of the clashes of representatives in The scene of the parliament, the election of the speaker of the parliament was not completed for the second time so that Mohsen Al-Mandlawi is still in charge of the temporary chairmanship of the parliament as the first vice president.

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