Leading candidates for speakership emerge

Negotiations over who will replace Mohammed Al-Halbusi as speaker of parliament have led to the emergence of four leading candidates. So far, there are no indications of when a vote in parliament is likely to take place.

What is the process for deciding on the new speaker?

It is highly unlikely that the roughly 70 Sunni MPs in parliament are going to reach consensus on a candidate, especially given the intense competition between Halbusi’s Taqaddum and his staunch rivals in Azm. That would mean that a vote in parliament will feature at least 2 leading candidates.

The winning candidate will need the support of a majority of MPs in the session to secure the position. That means that the Coordination Framework will be crucial to deciding who will win. The Framework’s stated position is that they will support the candidate who enjoys a majority among Sunni MPs.

On that basis, Halbusi’s Taqaddum and Khanjar’s Siyada have been negotiating to agree on a candidate. Taqaddum has 40 MPs while Siyada has 16 MPs. A candidate who they can agree on would enjoy a comfortable level of legitimacy.