Baghdad, Jan. 10 (BNA) The new Iraqi parliament re-elected its speaker for a second term on Sunday, in a first step towards forming a new government after the general elections whose results were challenged by the powerful Iranian-backed factions.
In a reflection of the tensions, the meeting was marked by chaos, with the most senior member of parliament leading the session apparently being evacuated to hospital due to fatigue, the Associated Press reported.
The chaotic meeting heralds what is likely to be a prolonged period of political wrangling between groups competing to choose a new president and prime minister.
As the leader of the largest bloc, Moqtada al-Sadr – an independent leader remembered for leading an insurgency against US forces after the 2003 invasion – has the upper hand in forming a new government. However, he will have to manage tensions with rival Shiite groups who continue to reject election results and demand a say in the government formation process.
According to the Iraqi constitution, the largest bloc in Parliament has the right to choose the new prime minister. But as the meeting began on Sunday, a coalition known as the Shi’ite Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shi’ite factions that contest the results of the vote, submitted a list of lawmakers that it claimed now holds the largest parliamentary bloc with 88 seats, instead. from the chest.
Chaos broke out briefly in the hall, during which the deputies gathered around Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who was presiding over the session.
Within minutes, the security forces took the 73-year-old MP out of the room and put him in an ambulance that took him to the hospital where some leaders of political factions and militias visited him. The deputy appeared to be in good shape, according to witnesses who later saw him there.
Following the disruption, the House session resumed, although the majority issue was not immediately settled.
Subsequently, 200 deputies chose the current Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, for a second term, while 14 voted for al-Mashhadani.
Al-Halbousi, whose party came in second with 37 seats, is the former governor of Anbar province and is supported by al-Sadr and Sunni and Kurdish groups.
Earlier Sunday, deputies from Al-Sadr’s bloc arrived early at the parliament building in Baghdad, wearing white shrouds used by Muslims to wrap their dead in a sign of their willingness to die for him. Al-Sadr, one of Iraq’s most influential political leaders, was the biggest winner in the October 10 elections, taking 73 of parliament’s 329 seats.
The pro-Iranian factions allegedly fraudulent lost about two-thirds of their seats – a major blow. Supporters of armed groups have pitched tents and protested around the capital’s so-called Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government and many foreign diplomatic missions, for more than two months, while they appealed to Iraq’s Supreme Court.
Tensions came to a head in November with an assassination attempt by armed drones against the residence of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi – an attack blamed on Iran-aligned groups. The prime minister was not hurt.
The court rejected the appeal by the Iran-backed factions and ratified the election results late last month, paving the way for the formation of a government.
It is expected that lawmakers will elect in Sunday’s session a speaker and two deputies. Parliament will then have to elect a new president, who in turn will have 15 days to appoint a prime minister nominated by the largest bloc to form a new government.
Under an informal agreement dating back to the 2003 US-led invasion, a Kurd holds the presidency of Iraq – a largely ceremonial role – while the prime minister is a Shiite and the speaker of parliament is a Sunni.
The elections were held months ahead of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019, which saw tens of thousands rally in Baghdad and the southern provinces against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. They also protested the strong interference of neighboring Iran in Iraq’s affairs through Iranian-backed militias.
Independent candidates from the October 2019 protest movement who were subject to the extension list won nine seats. Some of them arrived at the parliament building by tuk-tuk from Tahrir Square, the center of the protest movement. Colorful three-wheeled motorbikes transported protesters back and forth from the square and became a symbol of the protest movement.
Hamza Haddad, a political analyst, said the formation of the new parliament could help make elected officials more accountable to the public due to the new, smaller constituencies.
“With the election of so many independents and new political parties like the Extension Movement, we can see real opposition forming in Parliament for the first time,” he said. “This is what Iraqis hope to see from the new Legislative Council.”