Iraqi Parliament to convene again to elect president
Without the attendance of independent lawmakers and other small factions in parliament, it is highly unlikely these powerful rivals can overcome the deadlock.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi lawmakers are set to hold a session early Wednesday to elect the country's next president.
The session is scheduled for 11 am local time in Baghdad, according to the Iraqi Council of Representatives' agenda issued late Tuesday.
Last Saturday, the parliament could not hold its previously-scheduled session for electing a president since the quorum wasn't met. No fewer than 220 lawmakers must attend Iraq's 329-seat parliament to elect the president per a federal court ruling on the matter.
The Saving Homeland Alliance's attempts to convince the so-called independent MPs to attend Saturday's session were partially successful since a number of these MPs attended.
But it did not result in the election of the tripartite alliance's candidate, the KDP's Rebar Ahmed, whose main rival for the ceremonial post is the incumbent Iraqi President Barham Salih of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
The Saving the Homeland Alliance consists of the Sadrist Movement, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and the Sunnis' Siyada (Sovereignty) Alliance. It presently holds 170 seats in the Iraqi Parliament. Its rival, the Shiite Coordination Framework (SCF), is a grouping of primarily Iranian-backed forces with approximately 130 seats.
Without the attendance of independent lawmakers and other small factions in parliament, it is highly unlikely these powerful rivals can overcome the deadlock.
The deadline for electing Iraq's next president is Apr. 6 per the court's decision.