ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Mahmoud al-Mashhadani on Thursday was elected as the new speaker of the Iraqi parliament, winning the position by a large margin after gaining the votes of 181 MPs in a run-off voting against Salem al-Issawi who garnered only 42 votes.
“I am happy and honored to express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation for entrusting me with the speakership of the parliament,” Mashhadani said in his first address to the parliament after he was elected the speaker.
Mashhadani went on to say “This responsibility that you have entrusted us with is an important and great assignment, and we will do our utmost to live up to your expectations, and I hope to be at its level.”
The newly-elected speaker of the Iraqi parliament pledged to work as a “cohesive team” to legislate laws that serve the Iraqi people.
Mashhadani, 76, had previously served as the speaker from 2006 to 2008.
Soon after Mashhadani was crowned the speaker of the parliament, congratulations and messages of support poured in.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani congratulated Mashhadani, saying the government supports “the oversight role of the House of Representatives, which complements the work of the government… in combating corruption and implementing the required reforms.”
President of Iraq Abdul Latif Rashid for his part described Mashhadani’s appointment as “an important step in completing the constitutional and national entitlements.”
Since November 2023, Iraq's parliament had operated under Acting Speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi after former Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi was removed by court order. Over the past year, Mashhadani had vied for the Speaker role against five candidates, and he eventually managed to secure the required majority, with the backing from the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework.
Mashhadani had faced significant competition, including a close contest with Issawi in May, which ended in a deadlock after altercations disrupted the session. These ongoing disputes, alongside internal conflicts within Sunni and Shiite factions, had complicated efforts to elect a permanent Speaker and led to calls for procedural changes to address the impasse.
Several sessions had been held to vote on a new speaker but to no avail, as none of the nominees had been able to garner enough support from the lawmakers.
A sectarian power-sharing arrangement has governed Iraqi politics since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, under which the post of prime minister is reserved for the Shiite component, the presidency is allocated for the Kurds, and the Sunnis get the speaker of parliament.
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