ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) chose its victorious Kirkuk candidate as the party’s nominee for the deputy parliament speaker position in the Iraqi legislature as the new parliament is set to hold its first session on Sunday afternoon. “If after the swearing in ceremony, the vote to elect the parliamentary leadership takes place, then I am a candidate,” Shakhawan Abdullah, KDP’s top candidate from Kirkuk who won over 37,000 votes told Rudaw’s Halkawt Aziz. The first parliamentary session was scheduled to take place at 11:00 am on Sunday, however the meeting was delayed to 3:00 pm as parties and blocs held meetings to lobby for their candidates. According to a long standing agreement, the three main leadership positions in the Iraqi government are divided among Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis. Whereas, Kurds get the presidency, Shiites get the premiership, and Sunnis get the parliamentary speaker. Kurds and Shiites each get a deputy of the parliamentary speaker. The KDP has, for years, held the position of the deputy parliamentary speaker, and this year, Abdullah is their candidate for the position. Iraq’s top Sunni parties on Saturday agreed to put forth former parliamentary speaker Mohammad al-Halbousi as their candidate to get a second term in the position. The Shiite parties are yet to declare an agreed upon candidate for the other deputy position. According to Article 54 of the Iraqi constitution, when the election results are confirmed, it sets in motion a process for the winning parties to form a government. Within 15 days of the ratification of the results, the president calls on the parliament to meet, chaired by its eldest member, and elect a speaker and two deputies by an absolute majority during its first session according to Article 55. The parliament also elects a president from among candidates by a two-thirds majority. The president then tasks the largest bloc in the parliament with forming the government, naming a prime minister within 15 days of the election of the president. The prime minister-elect then has 30 days to name a cabinet.
