Iraq's parliament decided to hold a session on Thursday dedicated to electing the next president of the country.
On Tuesday, Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi announced the decision in a press release after a regular parliament session, noting that the agenda for Thursday's session would only include the election of the Iraqi president.
According to the power-sharing system in Iraq after 2003, the presidency should be reserved for the Kurds, the speaker's post for the Sunnis, and the prime minister's post for the Shiites.
So far, disagreement persists between the two major Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, over the position of the president of the country.
On Monday, Muhsen al-Mandalawi, first deputy of the parliament speaker, said in a statement that some 170 lawmakers submitted a request to hold a session on Wednesday dedicated to electing the next president of the country, in an attempt to end the political deadlock a year after the October 10, 2021 elections.
Political tensions in Iraq have escalated in the past months between the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Sadrist Movement, the biggest winner in the October 2021 parliamentary elections, and his rivals in the Shiite parliamentary parties in the Coordination Framework (CF), an umbrella group of Shiite parliamentary parties.
Al-Sadr demanded in the past weeks to dissolve parliament and hold early elections, but his demands were rejected by the CF parties.
On Tuesday, Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi announced the decision in a press release after a regular parliament session, noting that the agenda for Thursday's session would only include the election of the Iraqi president.
According to the power-sharing system in Iraq after 2003, the presidency should be reserved for the Kurds, the speaker's post for the Sunnis, and the prime minister's post for the Shiites.
So far, disagreement persists between the two major Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, over the position of the president of the country.
On Monday, Muhsen al-Mandalawi, first deputy of the parliament speaker, said in a statement that some 170 lawmakers submitted a request to hold a session on Wednesday dedicated to electing the next president of the country, in an attempt to end the political deadlock a year after the October 10, 2021 elections.
Political tensions in Iraq have escalated in the past months between the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Sadrist Movement, the biggest winner in the October 2021 parliamentary elections, and his rivals in the Shiite parliamentary parties in the Coordination Framework (CF), an umbrella group of Shiite parliamentary parties.
Al-Sadr demanded in the past weeks to dissolve parliament and hold early elections, but his demands were rejected by the CF parties.
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