Parliament’s chairmanship holds trilateral meeting on speaker

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The parliament’s chairmanship is holding a meeting now with the heads of political blocs and the committee assigned on selecting the parliament’s speaker, MP from the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) said. “The parliament’s chairmanship started a meeting with head of the political blocs and the committee assigned on selecting the parliament’s speaker,” Abdul Hadi al-Hassani told IraqiNews.com news agency. The UIA is the largest parliamentary bloc and has 83 seats out of the 275-seat parliament. In December 2008, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani stepped down as Parliament speaker following a heated argument with members of parliamentary committees, during which he allegedly used “offensive” language that prompted many parliamentarians to call for his resignation. SH (P) 1