Parliament’s chairmanship to be sacked if speaker not elected by Wednesday – MP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: MP from the al-Tadamun (Solidarity) bloc said on Friday that the parliament’s chairmanship will be sacked in case the parliament failed to elect a speaker next Wednesday, according to a statement of the bloc. “Next session should be crucial in solving this issue,” said the statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. This came amid pressures exerted on the parliament to elect a news speaker to discuss and approve the 2009 budget and other important subjects. The parliament adjourned its session on Monday (Feb. 8) to Wednesday (Feb. 18) to reach an agreement on the speaker. Five candidates are vying over the speaker post: Iyad al-Samarraie of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), independent lawmaker Wathab al-Dulaimi, Iraqi National Dialogue Council (INDC) 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 of the security & defense and legal committees and some words he said which were considered “insulting.” SH (S) 1