Veteran Sunni politician elected Iraqi parliament speaker

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi lawmakers on Thursday voted for veteran Sunni politician Mahmoud al-Mashhadani as the new speaker of parliament, a year after the former speaker was ousted for allegedly forging a document. 

Several attempts have failed to fill the position which has been vacant since November last year. Legislators convened on Thursday for another try, with four people vying for the spot but none was able to garner enough votes in the first round of the voting. 

Mashhadani and another Sunni politician, Salem al-Issaw, raced again in the second round. The former won the top position after garnering most of the votes in the 329-seat parliament. 

Both candidates contested in May but a brawl in the parliament broke out which subsequently adjourned the session indefinitely. 

The battle over the position started in November when the Federal Supreme Court ruled to revoke then-parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi. The Sunni strongman was accused of forging the resignation of another lawmaker in 2022 by changing the date on the document. 

Halbousi’s Taqadum party and many Shiite blocks endorsed Mashhadani in Thursday’s vote. 

Under Iraq’s sectarian power-sharing system, the post of parliament speaker is reserved for the Sunnis, the prime minister position for the Shiites, and the country’s presidency for the Kurds.