The new Iraqi Council of Representatives on Sunday opened with a heated inaugural session, three tense months after legislative elections won by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the likely kingmaker of the next government.
Al-Sadr, 47, who once led an anti-US militia and who has a large following, is expected to have the key say in who is to serve as the next prime minister, a post held by Mustafa al-Kadhemi.
Sunday saw the swearing in of the 329 members of the unicameral parliament and the re-election of Iraqi Representative Mohammed al-Halbousi, who is Sunni, as speaker.
Photo: Reuters
However, a dispute broke out between lawmakers of the Shiite Coordination Framework coalition and their rivals under al-Sadr, several parliamentary sources said.
Iraq’s post-election period has been marred by high tensions, violence and allegations of voter fraud.
Iraqi Representative Mahmud al-Mashhadani, the oldest member of parliament who chaired Sunday’s session, was “hospitalized,” public television said.
Iraqi News Agency reported that he was in a “stable” condition, while a parliamentary source requesting anonymity said that al-Mashhadani “fainted.”
Videos filmed by lawmakers showed them fighting among themselves and the session was suspended for more than an hour before resuming.
Al-Sadr, who wears the black turban of a descendant of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, emerged as the big winner of the polls on Oct. 10 last year.
The elections had been held several months early as a concession to a democracy movement.
Al-Sadr’s movement, which ran after he reversed an initial election boycott call, won 73 of the 329 seats.
Iraqi Representative Muthana Amin, who is Kurdish, said that Sunday’s session “began normally,” but that the Coordination Framework claimed it was the largest alliance in parliament, with 88 seats.
Mashhadani “asked for the information to be verified, after which he was abused,” Amin told reporters, without saying whether his hospitalization was linked to the incident.
Within 30 days of its inaugural session, the parliament must elect the president of the republic.
The new president must then appoint a premier, who is chosen by the largest coalition and has 30 days to form a government.
Some experts expect a new governing team in place by March for the oil-rich, but war-battered country of 40 million people.
Al-Sadr has repeatedly said that he wants to break with the Iraqi political tradition of a “consensus” government to instead build a majority government.
That would mean securing a ruling majority that would appoint a premier and a Cabinet from within its ranks.
Trinidad and Tobago declared a new state of emergency on Friday after authorities accused a criminal network operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions. It is the second state of emergency to be declared in the twin-island republic in a matter of months. In December last year, authorities took similar action, citing concerns about gang violence. That state of emergency lasted until mid-April. Police said that smuggled cellphones enabled those involved in the plot to exchange encrypted messages. Months of intelligence gathering led investigators to believe the targets included senior police officers,
FOREST SITE: A rescue helicopter spotted the burning fuselage of the plane in a forested area, with rescue personnel saying they saw no evidence of survivors A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed yesterday in a remote spot in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said. The aircraft, a twin-propeller Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at about 1pm. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 16km from Tynda. Videos published by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane in a dense, forested area. Rescuers in
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is to meet US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally would secure a more favorable trade deal before the deadline on Friday next week. Marcos would be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, driving tough bargains in trade talks even with close allies that Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with China. “I expect our discussions to focus on security and defense, of course, but also
RSS