“We urge Iraqis to elect a COR Speaker in accordance with Iraq's constitution and the will of the people,” a US State Department spokesperson told Rudaw on Wednesday, referring to the Iraqi parliament as the Council of Representatives (COR).
Attempts to select a new speaker of the Iraqi parliament have so far proven futile - the latest attempt came in June when veteran Sunni politician Mahmoud al-Mashhadani failed to gather enough support for the position.
“We continue to stress the importance of having a Speaker in place to support legislation required for the needs of the Iraqi people,” the US spokesperson added.
US Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski met with Sunni MP Shaalan al-Karim in Baghdad on Tuesday “to discuss prospects for electing a COR Speaker who represents the interests of all Iraqis, including Sunnis,” according to the embassy’s post on X.
The Sunnis have worked during summer sessions of parliament to select their candidate and reach a consensus on their nominee for the vacant speakership. Karim failed to garner enough support as the Sunni bloc candidate in previous rounds of votes this year.
On the same day, the US ambassador also separately met with former Iraqi Prime Ministers Haider al-Abadi, leader of the influential Nasr (Victory) Alliance, and Nouri al-Maliki, head of the powerful State of Law Coalition, to discuss "regional, security, and political developments," according to the embassy’s post on X.
In November, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court ruled to revoke Mohammed al-Halbousi’s parliamentary membership and end his tenure as speaker. The Sunni strongman was accused of forging the resignation of another Sunni lawmaker in 2022 by changing the date on the document.
Under Iraq’s sectarian power-sharing system, the post of parliament speaker is always reserved for the Sunnis, the prime minister position for the Shiites, and the presidency for the Kurds.
As there have been several failed attempts to elect a new speaker, Shiite parties have said they are prepared to put a candidate up for a vote if other efforts fail.
Diyar Kurda in Washington contributed to this report.
