Iraq Sunnis fail to agree on parliament speaker nominee
BAGHDAD – Anadolu Agency
Sunni political blocs have failed to agree on a nominee for the post of speaker of Iraq's newly-elected parliament, a lawmaker said on Sept. 12.
“We're still considering nine different people for the nomination,” MP Mohamed al-Khaledi, head of parliament's Sunni Bayariq al-Khair bloc, told Anadolu Agency.
Al-Khaledi himself is a nominee for the post, along with eight other Sunni politicians, including former Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi and current Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi.
On Sept. 15, parliament will convene to elect a new speaker and two deputies.
Last week, parliament postponed the election of a new speaker to mid-September after a number of lawmakers decided to boycott the vote.
Within 30 days of its first session, which was held last week, parliament should elect - by a two-thirds majority - the country's next president, according to Iraq's constitution.
The new president will then task the majority bloc in parliament with drawing up a government, which must be referred back to the assembly for approval.
