Iraqi Parliament concludes session without electing Speaker

BAGHDAD, 14 January — After hours of waiting, the Deputy Speakers of the Iraqi Parliament, Mohsen al-Mandlawi and Shakhawan Abdullah, entered the constitutional hall with a sensitive amendment to the bylaws. After its passage, al-Mandlawi adjourned the session without electing a speaker for the Parliament.

A 964media correspondent in the Parliament reported that the amendment, which was voted on and approved, reinstated the term “Presidency Body,” which was previously removed by Halbusi and replaced with “the President and his Deputies.”

According to MPs who attended the session, the amendment aims to continue the operation of the Parliament through the “Presidency Body,” currently composed of Deputies al-Mandlawi and Abdullah, regardless of how long the election of the Parliament Speaker is delayed.