Parliament adjourns session until next week

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Parliament on Monday adjourned its session until next week, MP from the Arab bloc said. “The session was postponed until Wednesday (Feb. 18) to give more time to reach an agreement on the speaker issues, as well as the first reading of the state’s general budget,” Mohamed Tameem told IraqiNews.com news agency. The Iraqi Parliament had started its regular session earlier on Monday under First Deputy Speaker Sheikh Khaled al-Attiya to elect the new speaker. Five candidates are vying over the speaker post: Iyad al-Samarraie of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), independent lawmaker Wathab al-Dulaimi, NDC lawmaker Khalil Jaddou, Abad Motlak al-Juburi of the Independent Arab Bloc and independent legislator Hussein al-Falluji. The Iraqi Parliament is still without a speaker since former speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani’s resignation was accepted in an extraordinary session held on December 23, 2008 after a squabble between him and members from the security & defense and legal committees and some words he said which were considered “insulting.” SH (P)/SR 1