ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A loud altercation broke out between Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and his first deputy Muhsin al-Mandalawi over a vote to choose the head of the Federal Public Service Council, with a physical brawl arising between a Sunni and a Shiite MP over the same issue.

The Iraqi parliament convened on Tuesday to vote on a number of issues, including the selection of the heads of the Federal Public Service Council and the Council of State. Iraqi MP Amr Abdul Jabar told The New Region that a verbal spat broke out between the parliament’s speaker and his first deputy, who had added the matter to the parliament’s agenda.

“An article was added, which led to a disagreement between the speaker and the first deputy,” said Jabar. “The article was [about voting on] the members of the service council.”

The session was resumed with Mandalawi at the helm, according to a statement from the parliament, with 169 members in attendance. The two councils were successfully voted on, the parliament said in a separate statement shortly after, before the session was subsequently adjourned  due to a failure to meet quorum.

In addition to the presidency’s verbal clash, a physical altercation broke out over the same issue between Alaa al-Haidari, a Shiite MP, and Raad Dahlaki, a Sunni lawmaker, The New Region’s Baghdad correspondent confirmed. The two MPs reportedly traded physical blows with one another.

Hours later, Mashhadani declared the parliamentary session "invalid", citing "a failure to authorize" the deputy speaker to open the session "in violation of the provisions" of the parliaments internal regulations. 

"We declare the session invalid and disregard its consequences, since what is based on falsehood is itself false. We clarify that no session of the House may be held without our presidency except in the event of our absence or inability to carry out our duties, and then we inform of these two circumstances in writing before the session is held," read a document signed by Mashhadani.

The Iraqi parliament has previously witnessed similar brawls. In May 2024, multiple MPs engaged in a violent fracas over a dispute relating to the election of a speaker for the parliament, a position that had been vacant for six months at the time.

Updated at 22:00 with contents of Mashhadani's signed document declaring the session invalid