Iraq Parliament Elects Al-Halbousi as Speaker
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iraq's parliament elected lawmaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi as speaker of parliament on Saturday, marking the first step toward establishing the new government four months after an inconclusive national election.
Parliament was due to elect a speaker and two deputies during its first meeting on Sept 3, but failed to do so as lawmakers were still trying to determine which competing bloc had the most seats, Reuters reported.
Millions of Iraqis voted on May 12 in their first parliamentary election since the defeat of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, but a contentious recount process delayed the announcement of final results until earlier this month.
Sadr's Sairoon bloc came first in the polls, while the Fatah (Conquest) Alliance led by Hadi Amiri, and Haider Abadi's Nasr finished second and third. A bloc led by Nouri al-Maliki ended in the fifth place.
The Iraqi politics has long been vulnerable to the differences lying along the country’s major ethnic and sectarian fault lines.
Any new government has to move quickly to address the country’s chronic woes, including the poor quality of basic services as well as political and economic mismanagement. It would also have to face the mammoth task of rebuilding the country following three years of struggle against Daesh.
