Parliament waits for federal court’s decision about speaker

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi parliament is waiting for the federal court’s decision regarding the possibility that Mahmoud al-Mashhadani reoccupies his post as a speaker of te parliament, said the head of the National Dialogue Council, explaining that he would not vote on Thursday on other candidates to fill the position. “The council of representatives is still waiting for the federal court’s decision to learn whether it is legal for Mahmoud al-Mashhadani to reoccupy his post,” Sheikh Khalaf al-Ilayan told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The parliament’s Thursday session will witness a voting process on the mechanism to select a speaker,” he said. He hoped to receive the federal court’s decision in this regard today. “If we would receive the decision today, the parliament would vote on the candidates next week,” he noted. Sheikh al-Ilayian stressed that he will not vote on the candidates. Former speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashahadani, who was forced to retire on Dec. 23 after troubles with some lawmakers, is a member of the Iraqi National Dialogue Council. MH (S)/SH 1