Iraqi Parliament fails again to elect president

By Ali Jawad

BAGHDAD (AA) – The Iraqi Parliament on Wednesday failed to elect the country’s new president for the second time in less than a week.

A scheduled voting session failed to be held due to lack of quorum after dozens of lawmakers boycotted the meeting.

Only 200 members of the 329-seat parliament attended Wednesday’s session, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

At least 220 lawmakers are required to attend the session to elect the country’s president.

On Saturday, the parliament failed to elect the president due to lack of quorum amid a boycott of lawmakers.

Last week, the party of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced an agreement with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance on naming the KDP’s nominee Reber Ahmed for presidency and Mohammad Jaafar al-Sadr of Al-Sadr party for the position of Iraq’s prime minister.

Under a political norm since 2006, a Kurd is elected for Iraq’s presidency, while a Sunni heads the parliament, and a Shia takes the prime minister position.

* Writing by Ahmed Asmar