Iraq to hold first parliamentary session on Jan. 9: Presidency

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The first parliamentary session after the ratification of the October parliamentary elections will be held on Jan. 9, 2022, the Iraqi presidency announced on Thursday.

The presidential decree came after Iraq’s Supreme Court ratified the results on Dec. 27, following appeals by a number of Shiite factions that objected to the outcome of the Oct. 10 elections.

Under Article 54 of the Iraqi constitution, Iraq’s president has to call for the first session of parliament, in which the Speaker and two deputies are elected, within 15 days of the ratification of the election results.

The first session will be chaired by the eldest elected member of parliament, per the constitutional article.

The biggest winner of the elections was Moqtada al-Sadr’s political bloc – the Sadrist Movement – that secured 73 out of the 329 seats in parliament. Taqadum (Progress Party), led by former Speaker of Parliament Mohammad al-Halbousi, won 37 seats.

The State of Law Coalition, headed by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, secured 33 seats.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is the biggest winner among the Kurdish parties, with 31 seats.

As the winner of the elections, Sadr calls for a “national majoritarian government”. The Shiite Coordination Framework opposes this, calling instead for a consensus government, which has been the norm since 2003.

Political talks are ongoing to reach an agreement regarding the formation of the government, but they have not yet borne any fruit.