No majority forces new round in Iraq second deputy speaker vote

Shafaq News– Baghdad

Iraq’s Council of Representatives moved to a new round of voting on Monday to select a second deputy speaker, after completing the election of the chamber’s top two posts.

According to Shafaq News correspondent, the race between Shakhawan Abdullah, nominated by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and Rebar Karim of the Al-Mawqif Movement failed to produce a majority winner, prompting lawmakers to proceed to a second ballot.

Speaking with our agency, KDP lawmaker Sipan Sherwani described the outcome as inconclusive, noting that his party would intensify negotiations with other parliamentary blocs ahead of the next round.

While stressing that Abdullah remains the KDP’s sole nominee, he called on other blocs to abide by agreements and the established political entitlements.

Parliament, meeting earlier in the day for its opening session, elected Haibet Al-Halbousi, a senior figure in the Taqaddum (Progress) Alliance, as speaker, before choosing Adnan Fayhan, a leader in the Sadiqoun Movement, as first deputy speaker.

Parliament’s leadership consists of a speaker and two deputies. Under political conventions established after 2003, the speaker’s post is allocated to a Sunni Arab, the first deputy speakership to a Shiite Arab, and the second deputy speakership to a Kurd.

Read more: Iraq’s speakership: Two decades of constitutional rules and backroom deals