Iraq’s parliament has elected Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a distinguished Sunni lawmaker who has an in depth relationship with Iran, as its new speaker after months of impasse amongst political factions.
Al-Mashhadani, who served a earlier stint as speaker from 2006 to 2009, was chosen by a vote of 182 of the 269 legislators who attended the session on Thursday. Parliament has 329 seats.
In November 2023, the Federal Supreme Courtroom abruptly terminated the tenure of probably the most highly effective Sunni parliament speaker, Mohammed al-Halbousi, with out saying why, setting the stage for a battle over succession that dragged on for near 12 months.
Al-Halbousi, who had served because the governor of Anbar province, was elected in 2018. He was 37 on the time and have become the youngest parliament speaker within the nation’s historical past. He was re-elected in 2022 for a second time period and served till his elimination in 2023.
Al-Mashhadani secured his election with vital assist from the coalition that features influential Shia events and Iran-aligned teams together with the State of Regulation coalition led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Underneath the nation’s sectarian power-sharing system, the parliament speaker is all the time Sunni, the prime minister Shia and the president Kurdish.
The position of speaker is essential in Iraq’s usually fragmented political panorama. Al-Mashhadani will now need to deal with many challenges together with corruption and inner divisions that would additionally threaten his publish.
He may even need to take care of some controversial laws, together with a proposed modification to Iraq’s private standing regulation governing household issues, which critics say would in impact legalise little one marriage.
His election comes as Iraq makes an attempt to navigate the repercussions of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon and balances its relationship with Iran and the US.
Iran-aligned militias, such because the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have commonly launched drone assaults on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washington’s assist for Israel.
Iraq’s authorities has sought to keep away from alienating the US, on which it has relied for financial and navy assist, with US troops nonetheless based mostly within the nation primarily to counter ISIL (ISIS).
