Iraq
The Iraqi parliament building in Baghdad's Green Zone on August 25, 2022. Photo: Chenar Chalak/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi parliament is expected to vote on the resignation of its speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi on Wednesday amid political deadlock.
The parliament’s agenda showed that the MPs will vote on Halbousi’s resignation as the legislative body is set to convene on Wednesday, three months after it held its last session.
Shakhawan Abdullah, second deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw's Sirwan Abbas that Halbousi has prepared his resignation letter to be presented during the session.
“We do not expect Halbousi’s resignation to be accepted,” said Abdulla.
The reason for Halbousi’s resignation is still unclear.
The Iraqi parliament held its last parliamentary session on June 23 and suspended its work on July 30 after supporters of powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed the parliament building, asking for the dissolution of the current legislature and holding of new snap election.
Wednesday’s session will be the first after weeks-long protests and political tensions.
Halbousi’s decision to resign comes as the main Kurdish, Sunni, and pro-Iran Shiite blocs are expected to announce the formation of a new coalition as the legislature approaches its one-year mark without a cabinet.
“The political parties have signed a political agreement document,” reported Afaq TV, affiliated with the pro-Iran Coordination Framework, on Monday, adding that “the signatory political parties include the framework, the two Kurdish parties, Azm, Sovereignty, and Babylon.”
Hisham al-Rikabi, media director of former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, confirmed to Rudaw’s Aso Fishaki that an agreement has been reached without specifying the name of the parties included in the alliance, which is expected to be titled Running the State Coalition.
Rikabi stressed that “many invitations have been extended to the Sadrist Movement, but they refuse to join the dialogues and meetings that resulted in this agreement,” adding that Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani remains the Coordination Framework’s candidate for the Iraqi premiership.
Sudani's candidacy initially triggered the Sadrist demonstrations, as they accused the former minister of labor and social affairs of corruption.
The new coalition reportedly includes both the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) who have been at loggerheads over who should become the next president of Iraq, with the KDP fielding its own candidate, Reber Ahmed, to challenge PUK’s incumbent and sole candidate Barham Salih for the post.
Iraq is in the midst of a prolonged political crisis and the parliament has been unable to form the country’s next cabinet in nearly a year due to continued disagreements between the political parties over its formation.
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