IAF has the right to Parliament’s speakership

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Under agreements between political blocs, the Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) has the right to nominate a candidate for the position of the Parliament’s speaker, a spokesperson for the front said on Wednesday. “Mahmoud al-Mashhadani’s resignation from his position does not mean that the front has given up the post,” Saleem Abdullah al-Juburi told IraqiNews.com. “Preliminary meetings that took place prior to Mashhadani’s resignation have set the rules for the election of a replacement,” Juburi noted. “A paper signed by leaders of political blocs entitles the front to nominate whoever it deems suitable for the position,” he added. The Sunni Iraqi Accord Front has 38 seats in the 275-member Parliament. It comprises the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), the Iraqi People’s Congress (IPC), in addition to the Iraqi National Dialogue Council (INDC) and the Independent Bloc, which announced their withdrawal from the front during a press conference earlier today. SS (P) 1