Parl. to call for Samarraie’s right to speaker position- MP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) parliamentarian on Saturday said that the Parliament’s presidential board has agreed with bloc leaders to submit a request to the Federal Court, calling for Iyad al-Samarraie’s right to the speaker’s position. “This morning, parliamentary bloc leaders met and agreed to send the results of the second voting round to the Parliament’s presidential board, which will submit them to the Federal Court…,” MP Taha al-Luhaibi told IraqiNews.com news agency. The sorting process ended on Thursday (Feb. 19) with the participation of 234 lawmakers. MP Samarraie from the Sunni IAF won 136 votes, while his competitor Khalil Gaddou from the National Dialogue Council got 81. The candidate must obtain an absolute majority to win. 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. SS (P) 1