26 attend session

Kurdistan Parliament fails to meet quorum as interim speaker resigns

ERBIL — The Kurdistan Parliament failed to elect a new speaker Tuesday, prompting interim speaker Mohammed Sulaiman to resign from his position, citing a lack of quorum and his responsibility to “serve the people”.

“Parliament has been without a speaker for two years,” Sulaiman, who is from the New Generation bloc, said during a press conference on Wednesday. “We intended to elect a speaker today, but the legal quorum was not met.”

Sulaiman, who became interim speaker on Dec. 2, 2024 to lead the first session of parliament as the eldest member, confirmed his resignation during the press conference. “My goal has always been to serve the people. I cannot remain in a position where I am unable to fulfill that duty. I hereby step down,” he declared.

Only 26 members attended today’s session, far below quorum. The attendees included 15 MPs from New Generation, six from the Kurdistan Islamic Union, two from Halwest, one from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and one from the Kurdistan Region’s Alliance faction.

New Generation MP Kurdawan Jamal criticized the two ruling parties during the same press conference. “Today’s quorum was incomplete because the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan refused to attend the session,” he said. “We, as the New Generation faction, were fully prepared with all 15 of our MPs present.”

Addressing accusations that his resignation was a political maneuver to appoint PUK’s Azad Mohammed—the second oldest parliament member and the sole attendee from the PUK faction—Sulaiman responded, “Is serving the people a ‘scenario’? Is fulfilling our oaths and attending parliamentary sessions a ‘scenario’? Or should we simply accept parliament’s paralysis?”

From the KDP, only Bahjat Ali attended the session, while new Interim Speaker Azad Mohammed was the sole representative from the PUK. 964media has reached out to both for comment about their decision to attend while the rest of their factions did not.

Earlier, Sulaiman had called on all parliamentary factions to attend today’s session to elect a speaker, urging cooperation to break the deadlock.

During the first session on Dec. 2, 2024, nominations for the positions of speaker, deputy speaker, and secretary of parliament were announced. A total of 15 candidates from five different political factions were nominated, including representatives from the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the two main parties in the region. However, they left the session, resulting in its postponement until now.

Both the KDP and PUK are engaged in a series of meetings and discussions at multiple levels to finalize an agreement on forming the government and distributing positions. Their absence from today’s parliamentary session is reportedly tied to finalizing the allocation of posts, including the presidency of parliament.

The Kurdistan Region held parliamentary elections for its 100-seat legislative chamber on Oct. 20, 2024.