ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Azm Alliance leader Muthanna al-Samarrai declared himself a candidate for the Speaker of Parliament post early Monday, amid a fallout between the Sunni National Political Council parties, which announced Taqadum Party’s Haibat al-Halbousi as the nominee hours earlier.

Shortly after the Council’s Sunni blocs announced the nomination of Halbousi as their candidate, the Azm Alliance declared its rejection of the decision, insisting that Samarrai remains its sole nominee.

Samarrai had left the National Political Council’s Sunday meeting early, and did not attend the coalition’s presser during which Halbousi was announced.

Hours later, Samarrai, in the presence of other Azm Alliance officials, held a press conference where he declared his candidacy, asserting that no decision is legitimate if it is not made with the agreement of all of the Council’s members.

“The internal regulations of the National Political Council stipulate that all decisions made within it must be by consensus among all the entities that comprise the council,” the Azm leader stated.

Samarrai added that any candidate who has been announced “does not represent the will” of the Sunni Council.

A document sent to The New Region by the Azm Alliance, which includes the signatures of all the leaders of the Sunni amalgam, shows the conditions under which the National Political Council was formed, with one of the points describing the coalition as a “consensus-based council,” and another point reading that the council “shall have a rapporteur agreed upon by all, without objection from any party.”

In a post on X, Azm Alliance's Haider al-Mulla asserted that Samarrai “has proven that national interests transcend any compromises.”

Mulla told The New Region that “what the National Political Council decides is up to its leadership, but we will be present tomorrow [Monday], and the parliamentary session will decide,” asserting that the party has strong relations with the Shiite Coordination Framework and the Kurdish parties, “and Samarrai will not withdraw his nomination."

The Iraqi parliament is set to convene on Monday for the new term's first session. The parliament's media office announced Saturday the agenda for the session, which included the selection of the speaker and their two deputies.